Soul Kingdom: The Color Series
by huntington1998
Summary: When a meteor shower scatters the Chaos Emeralds and 7 individuals from different worlds find them, everything changes. SoulKingdomCreator and I are now working together on this story. Crossover between Rayman, Ratchet and Clank, Kingdom Hearts, Sly Cooper, Sonic Boom, Super Mario, and The Legend of Zelda.
1. Sly: Intro

"I've faced many things in my career. No, my life. I've done things that were thought to be impossible. But... none of it prepared me for what was next. A single night. A single jewel. They changed everything. I've been having these visions lately ever since that night. I feel like there are others who see them as well. Is it a coincidence... or destiny?"

\- Sly Cooper before the intro

The intro of the game briefly shows the parts of the series' protagonists slowly before having them appear from light in color order: Mario, Sly, Ratchet, Link, Sora, Sonic, and Rayman. Following them are several silhouetted characters. Appearing afterwards are the organizations that own the characters before the main logo is seen.

The rest of the intro briefly shows the events of the six games in the Sly Cooper series (for Sly 5's story, search Sly Cooper: Age of Thieves on the Sly Cooper Fanfic Wiki and for Sly 6's story, search Sly Cooper: Thieves of the Multiverses), showing all the key parts of all of them. It then goes to the night shown in Thieves of the Multiverses's secret ending, where a meteor shower was starting. Sly, who was on a pole, suddenly had a mysterious white gem appear in his hands. Then, he starts falling backwards. His team sees this and runs to him, but he kept falling to the street below (think of the intro of Kingdom Hearts). As he fell, it flashed between the other protagonists before "diving" into water. All seven are seen. After a while they land on their feet in the dark. It is Sly who steps forward and the darkness disappears to reveal a stained glass platform with himself and his gang with Paris in the background. Sensing another presence, he looks behind and sees someone standing on a farther platform with a single platform between them.


	2. Sly: Prologue Part 1

I didn't know where I was. One moment, I was falling to the concrete, then I felt like I was drowning, and now I'm here. Wherever here was with this person. It started to feel like I was in a dream with the assuring light of the glass platform... with me?

The platform was mostly white, silver and blue with rings and circles. My gang and I were on the glass, but they were in the smaller circles, at least four of the seven. I was stretched over the right three, and almost half of the whole platform. I looked like I was sleeping, so I must be dreaming.

"Step forward," a voice echoed.

"What the?" Who just spoke? It couldn't be that thing from over there. "Who's there?"

Step forward."

A block suddenly appeared. I guess there was nothing I could do but move toward the block. I climbed onto the cube and it suddenly lit up. A larger platform, almost like a pillar, filled the gap between me and the person.

 _"Step forward and meet the other link."_ A bridge connected the platforms. Without another option, I crossed. The glass platform felt foreign against my feet, different, childish, like an innocence of some sort. Like it didn't belong to me, at least not just me, but others as well.

The other person crossed too. I had never seen anything like them before. They had spiky, light brown hair, blue eyes, tan skin, and clothes with lots of zippers and pockets. I couldn't put my finger on what they were, though. Just by looking at them, I knew they were male and several years younger than me.

 _"Do not fear him. He is your new ally."_ Trusting those words, I approached him. He did the same. We were a foot apart when we stopped. We just stood for a few moments, waiting for the other to move or something. Then, he held out a hand warily. He seemed friendly enough and that look in his eyes showed truth and willingness to accept me. It felt like decades passed before I took his hand.

"I'm Sly. Sly Cooper." He smiled to me. For a young adult, he radiated a childish aura that was surprisingly soothing.

"I'm Sora," he told me, before politely pulling away. "This must be the first time I've seen someone like you here."

"Where is 'here' anyway?" I really needed to know that now.

"Oh, it's your first time here. Well-" Before Sora could finish, some kind of force shoved us away. Then, a barrier split the playform.

 _"There are times you must fight on your own..."_

"That voice again...!"

"You heard it too?" Sora called in response. Suddenly, small black creatures started fazing out of the ground. "Heartless?! Not now!"

"Heartless?"

"I can't explain right now! Just don't let them near your heart!" Something glowed in his hands and a key- a sword? - formed. I had so many questions now and Sora couldn't answer any of them at the time. What were these "Heartless"?

Continuing from this. Sorry about the cut off.

A block suddenly appeared. I guess there was nothing I could do but move toward the block. I climbed onto the cube and it suddenly lit up. A larger platform, almost like a pillar, filled the gap between me and the person.

 _"Step forward and meet the other link."_ A bridge connected the platforms. Without another option, I crossed. The glass platform felt foreign against my feet, different, childish, like an innocence of some sort. Like it didn't belong to me, at least not just me, but others as well.

The other person crossed too. I had never seen anything like them before. They had spiky, light brown hair, blue eyes, tan skin, and clothes with lots of zippers and pockets. I couldn't put my finger on what they were, though. Just by looking at them, I knew they were male and several years younger than me.

 _"Do not fear him. He is your new ally."_ Trusting those words, I approached him. He did the same. We were a foot apart when we stopped. We just stood for a few moments, waiting for the other to move or something. Then, he held out a hand warily. He seemed friendly enough and that look in his eyes showed truth and willingness to accept me. It felt like decades passed before I took his hand.

"I'm Sly. Sly Cooper." He smiled to me. For a young adult, he radiated a childish aura that was surprisingly soothing.

"I'm sora," he told me, before politely pulling away. "This must be the first time I've seen someone like you here."

"Where is 'here' anyway?" I really needed to know that now.

"Oh, it's your first time here. Well-" Before Sora could finish, some kind of force shoved us away. Then, a barrier split the playform.

 _"There are times you must fight on your own..."_

"That voice again...!"

"You heard it too?" Sora called in response. Suddenly, small black creatures started fazing out of the ground. "Heartless?! Not now!"

"Heartless?"

"I can't explain right now! Just don't let them near your heart!" Something glowed in his hands and a key- a sword? - formed. I had so many questions now and Sora couldn't answer any of them at the time. What were these "Heartless"? What was this to do with my heart? Just what was going on?

The dark creatures lunged at me. I swung my cane on instinct, swatting them away. They just came back, as if I hadn't hit them at all. No matter how many times they came back, no matter how hard I hit them, they just got back up. Before I knew it, I was backed to the edge of the platform above the dark abyss.

 _"And there are times you must battle side by side."_ The barrier disappeared. I lost focus for a second and a Heartless scratched my shoulder. I was stung with pain and unable to fight, but in a flash, Sora and his sword had destroyed all of them.

"You okay, Sly?" Sora asked.

"I've been through worse. How did you do that?"

"The Heartless come from a place called the Realm of Darkness. Only this weapon, the Keyblade, can properly destroy them." So that weapon of his was called a Keyblade. Very fitting.

"So you can just summon it out of your own will?"

"The Keyblade is more connected to your heart. You need a strong heart to wield a Keyblade." A strong heart...

Suddenly, the platform became covered in shadows. Then, the shadows gathered into one, humungous monstrosity.

"Is that a Heartless?"

"Yep." Sora prepared to fight again.

"Stay close Sly and don't lose your light. Lose your light and you'll never escape the darkness." I didn't know if that was literal or metaphorical, but I knew I needed to help Sora.

This Heartless was stronger than the smaller ones. Sora had a little more of a struggle battling it. I wished I could do more than distract it with swats from my cane. I never felt so uselesss in a time like this. Finally, Sora landed the final blow and the giant Heartless fell onto the platform.

Crack!

Did I just hear a crack?

Suddenly, the Heartless broke apart, plunging the platform into darkness. I heard more cracking sounds follow.

"Look out, Sly!"

The platform shattered beneath my feet. I felt myself falling again, only it was pitch black. I looked frantically and saw Sora falling as well.

"Sora!"

I reached my hand out, hoping to maybe grab his hand. However, before I was even a yard close, everything went black.


	3. Sly: Prologue Part 2

I woke up with my head throbbing, eyesight blurry and taking gasps of air as if I had stopped breathing for a second. It was like I was drunk last night and recovering from a hangover. What just happened? The Heartless, the darkness, Sora... Was it all just a dream? Did I only imagine meeting Sora? No, it felt too real to have been a dream, and my body hurt where the Heartless hit. Then, I noticed a faint glow. On a nightstand I had in the hideout was that large, white gem. The one that mysteriously appeared in my hand on that night of the meteor shower. That's right, I fell as soon as it happened, then I met Sora. It had to be connected.

I got up from my bed in the hideout and placed my favorite cap on. Picking up my backpack, cane and the jewel, I went to Bentley and Penelope's lab.

"Morning, lovebirds," I called. My best bud and his girlfriend turned to me in surprise.

"Sly, you're awake!" Penelope said in relief.

"You've been out for almost a whole day, pal!" Bentley pointed out. "How on Earth could you have fallen after using the Ninja Spire Jump after so many times?" There was no way I could tell Bentley and Penelope about Sora. They'd never believe me.

"I don't know, to be honest," I told them. "I just suddenly felt dizzy after this appeared." I showed them the white gem.

"I think that jewel is at the center of what happened that night. Could you see if you can find anything on it?"

"I've never seen anything like this, but Penelope and I will take a look. If we find anything interesting, we'll call."

Bentley took the jewel from me and the two went to their genius work. I decided to see how Murray and Carmelita were doing. I found both of them in our makeshift training room. When I entered, Murray was the first to notice me and then he crushed me in his signature hug.

"Sly, Ol' Chum, you're okay!" he yelled in joy.

"Sly Cooper, do you know how much you worried me?!" my sweet Carmelita scolded me angrily, but with concern as well.

"Are you sure you're alright, Ringtail? You did end up with quite a bump on your head."

"I promise, I'm fine. Last night, I just felt dizzy. Bentley and Penelope are working out an explanation."

"If you say so, Sly," Murray commented.

It was a few minutes later while snacking on what was available (I hadn't realized how hungry I was earlier) when Bentley and Penelope came into the room.

"Sly, this gem has us baffled," Penelope started.

"What do you mean? Did you find anything at all? I would be very surprised if you two, some of the smartest people I know, couldn't find a thing."

"Well, not on the Internet, at least," Bentley explained. "We looked through everything that I as tied to gemstones, even mythical meanings, but there's nothing about the gem you found, Sly. Penelope and I ran a few experiments of our own, and all we can say is that this jewel has some crazy amount of energy in it. There's enough power to maybe run a continent!"

"What?! Is that possible?!"

"After what we've been through, I'm not completely surprised," Carmelita commented.

"Also, we have confirmed that this gem may not be of this world," Penelope added.

"Not of our world?" Murray questioned.

"We mean it could be from another planet, or even another dimension! This gem has the power to do that!"

"Is the energy in one gem really that powerful?" Carmelita asked in surprise.

"I asked the same question," Bentley said, "but the energy readings can't be lying. If any of you have info on what is going on here, let me or Penelope know."

So this gem... Came from another world or another dimension entirely. Does that mean Sora... is from another world too? Then... how was it possible we had met? Was it really the gem's power?

"Sly, are you okay?" Bentley asked.

"I'm fine, Bentley. Just trying to take this in after all that happened that night."

"As long as you're okay. Remember, out heist is tonight." Right. Our heist on those old associates of Le Paradox is tonight.

"This one has me excited. Are you ready to go over the plan, or do you need more time?"

"N-no, I'm good. I have it mapped out by heart."

"Hang on, Sly. We should give you a few more mintures to rest."

"Come on, mom. Stop worrying. I'm perfectly alright."

"If you say so. If we're all ready, I say we should head out and start this heist."


	4. Sly: Heist Ambush

**Chapter 1: Heist Ambush**

What was it with Paris and these rat guards? I thought after everything with Le Paradox, I'd stop seeing them. Then again, there was the robot rats from last time. And this was some of Le Paradox's extra flunkies we're stealing from, so it sort of makes sense.

Using my binocucom, I zoomed in on where the heist was to be pulled off. "Okay, everyone is in position," Bentley announced on the earpiece. "Murray will create a distraction for the thugs out front and Sly sneaks in through the vent. You got that tear gas bomb on you, right Sly?" I slip my hand into my satchel to check. The small, olive sized bomb was there, alongside the white gem I held onto. "Yep."

"Perfect. We'll definitely be needed that for the heist. Just be sure to wait for the right opportunity to use it, Sly."

"OK then. Just let me know when I can start moving through the vent."

Just as soon as the line cut, I saw Murray throwing punches at the guards. He quickly attracted the other thugs' attention.

"Carmelita will be there to assist shortly. Now's your chance, Sly. Go to the vent." I quickly Rail Walked across the wires.

The vent that I had to crawl through eventually entered my line of sight. There it was. My unique entrance inside was right there.

I started crawling through the vent. "OK Bentley, I'm going through the vent now. What's the plan for when I'm inside?"

"Find the office. That's where Le Paradox's associates will be. Drop the bomb inside when you get there and hightail it out of there. Then, we'll play our next move."

"Got it. I'm on my way to the office now."

I made my way inside the office and dropped the bomb, hurrying out as fast as I could to avoid the guards beating me up too much.

There was a loud explosion and then the sound of shouts and rumbling feet.

"Nice work, Sly. They'll be running out like little girls and-"

"Sly! We need some help out here!" Carmelita's voice came on. "Whatever these... these things are, my shock pistol does nothing to them!"

"And my fists go right through them!" Murray's voice boomed. I need to ask Bentley to put a volume switch on these. "HElp us out, pal!"

"Carmelita? Murray? What's going on out there?" I asked.

"Get out here and find out, ringtail!"

"Okay, I'm on my way!"

I quickly scurried out of the vent, wondering to myself what exactly were Murray and Carmelita fighting out there. Especially when they said that their attacks were doing nothing to whatever's attacking them.

I arrived to find Murray and Carmelita fighting the same shadow creatures I fought with Sora. I think he called them Heartless, and he said that the cane wouldn't help much. I didn't think I'd see them again.

But they were everywhere. What were they even doing here?

 _Don't let them near your heart!_

Those words suddenly rang through my mind. They were Sora's own words when I had that dream. He said not to let them get near my heart. But how am I supposed to fight back against these things? Sora had this strange key-like sword in that dream and he went through these Heartless like they were nothing. My cane didn't even make a scratch on them.

I then remembered the jewel, how Bentley said it had massive amounts of energy inside it. Maybe it could help me?

"Sly! Need some help!" I heard Murray shout. The Heartless were swarming him. Without thinking, I came at them with the gem firmly in my left hand. All I could think of suddenly was helping Murray.

I didn't realize what happened next until I saw Murray staring at me with wide eyes. All of the Heatless had been destroyed. I could feel my body tingle with power, unlike anything I've ever felt. Then, I looked down at my cane and I was shocked.

My cane... almost didn't look like my cane anymore. The hook was the same as was the neck, but the base... was more of a handle made of a raccoon tail and a medalion on a black string. The end was a wire with my signature calling card on the end.

"Whoa! What happened to your cane, Sly?!" Murray asked.

I stared at my cane with a perplexed expression on my face. What DID happen to my cane? I barely recognized it.

"I... I honestly have no idea, Murray."

Then I remembered Sora's similar key-shaped sword. Maybe I was using one too?

"Sly!" I heard Carmelita yell. The Heartless that were attacking her were coming at me now. Without thinking, I swatted back at them with my new weapon. One swipe and they vanished. These monsters seemed to be attracted to this weapon, like they're afraid of it.

Once they were gone, the weapon glowed and the power I felt stopped. Then, the weapon turned back into my cane.

Carmelita gave me a very surprised stare. Though, who could blame her, really? I mean, I did just take down those Heartless like they were nothing.

"What exactly happened to your cane there, Sly?" She asked. "I didn't even recognize it until those things disappeared!"

"To be honest, that's exactly what I want to know," I said.

What is going on? I wouldn't be surprised if the connection between the strange things that have happened since I got the jewel goes deeper than what I already know.

"Is everyone okay?" Penelope's voice came up. "We picked up strange energy and activity."

"Y-yeah, it's all good. I took care of it."

"What? How?" Bentley asked.

"I think it had something to do with this ge-"

"Wait! Sly, there's some... kind of energy centered on you!"

"Wha-?" Suddenly, I felt my feet sinking.

"Sly, what's going on over there?! I don't know what this energy is, but it's going off the charts!" Bentley exclaimed.

"I think this energy is the same stuff from the jewel. There has to be something about it that we just don't know."

I tried to keep my cool as something cold and... I didn't know how to describe it, but it was wrapping around my feet.

"You mean you took the jewel with you?"

"Hang on, Sly!" Murray interrupted, before he suddenly grabbed me and yanked me up. That's when I saw it. It was some kind of... pool of purple aura that didn't look safe to touch.

"What's that?" Carmelita questioned, stepping away from it.

"What's happening now?!" Bentley called. "The energy is now going crazy!"

"You may want to look for yourself." I took out my binocucom and took a snap shot of the pool.

"What do you make of this, Bentley?"

"I... I can't make heads or tails of what exactly that is! It's definitely something I've never seen before in my life!" Bentley exclaimed. The worry in his voice definitely didn't calm down my nerves, not even a little bit.

Suddenly, there is some kind of force that threw Murray and Carmelita back. I was about to run to them to make sure they're okay, but the pool just got bigger and I felt myself being pulled in. No matter how hard I tried to get free, I just continued to sink.

I was terrified, even more than when I was in the grip of Dr. M's monster. I continued to thrash, but the grip from this pool just got tighter until I could only use my hands. My left hand went into my satchel and I felt that gem. It felt warmer than usual and I could sense something different. Someone else, reaching out to me. I didn't know why, but one name crossed my mind before everything suddenly went white.

"... Sora..."

 **End Chapter**


	5. Sly: Islands of Destiny

**Chapter 2: Islands of Destiny**

Am I dead? Did I hit my head hard and die? I couldn't tell for sure if I was alive, but I felt like I was laying in a void of darkness. My senses were out of control to the slightest sounds, even though there wasn't a sound in this place. That was, until I heard footsteps. That's when the darkness started to fade. I felt myself laying against a cold floor, maybe made of solid rock. It was getting slightly brighter, and my nose twitched in the humid yet stuffy air. Judging by these elements, I inferred that I was in a cave of sorts.

"...S...y...! ...Sl...!"

My ears then caught the sound of a voice. It was a faint voice at first, until it started to get more and more clearer as the seconds ticked by. It sounded like the voice of a boy. A boy that was calling out my name.

"Sly...! Sly, wake up!"

My body felt stiff, but I managed to push myself up to my knees. I also felt that strange gem still in my hand.

"Are you okay, Sly?"

I looked up at the owner of the voice and saw a boy with blue eyes standing before me. As I stared into the eyes of the boy, the memories of a dream I once had slowly flowed throughout my mind. This boy... He was in that dream I had. He told me his name in that dream as well. What was it again? As the memories of that dream played through my mind, his name slowly became more clear to me. Until finally...

"...Sora...?"

Sora. That was his name.

He nodded at me, relief evident on his face. Sora held his hand out to me, and I accepted it. He was strong for... whatever he was, as he pulled me to my feet with ease.

"I can't believe you're really here, Sly," he said.

I was both surprised and happy to see Sora in this cave. I never thought I would see him before me again ever since that dream, but seeing him face to face cleared all of the doubts I had in my mind beforehand.

"I can't believe I'm seeing you again too, Sora. I honestly thought that dream was the only time I would get to see you," I said.

"Me too. It's great to meet you in person." We smiled at each other before Sora brought up a question. "But how are you here?"

I honestly had no clue how we were even meeting again.

"I don't know exactly. It's a bit of a blur." I looked around the cave and I saw all of kinds of drawings and sketches. "Where are we anyway?"

"This would happen to be the islands my friends and I live on. Destiny Islands," he said.

It took me a bit by surprise when I heard Sora mention "friends". Were there actually more of... whatever kind of creature Sora is here? And this Destiny Islands place... It wasn't a place I was familiar with. In fact, I never actually heard of a place like that before until now.

"Ah! The door!" he exclaimed in surprise. I turned around to see what he was talking about and all I saw was a black abyss. Then suddenly, it was sealed by a strange, wooden door.

"Wh-what just happened?"

Sora simply sighed and shook his head in disbelief.

"Sometimes, I feel like we'll never figure out anything about that door," he said. I suppose even he doesn't know anything about the now closed door.

"So now that I found you, let's go meet up with the others." I felt a bit shaken.

"As in... more of your kind?" Sora gave me a questioning look before relaxing.

"I take it you've never seen a human before." A human? That's what his kind is called? It was an odd name, and yet it works.

"Yeah, we don't have those on the other continents." Sora looked a little confused.

"'Continents'?" Then, he look worried. "Oh. Right. Uh..." He seemed troubled about how to say whatever he wanted to say. "Let's find my friends. They can help me explain to you. Nicely." Nicely? Why am I getting the feeling I won't like the news?

"O-okay. Lead the way." Sora began walking to the other end of the cave. Down near the floor is an entrance you need to somewhat crawl through. Thankfully, I was able to squeeze through. Then, I realized something and I started to panic a little. I didn't have my cane!

"Where's my cane?!"

"Your cane?" Sora called. "We found it on the beach. Don't worry, it's just outside the entrance."

I felt relief wash over me. After a little crawling, blinding light invaded my vision and I had to shield them for a moment.

"Here we are, Sly. Welcome to Destiny Islands!" Sora exclaimed excitedly.

As soon as my vision had adjusted to the light, I found myself gazing in amazement at a large blue sea not too far from where Sora and I were standing.

There were clouds dotting the bluest sky I ever laid on. It was beautiful.

"You really live here?"

"Well, this is more of a playground island. The main island is just a boat trip away. And here's your cane." Sora picked up my cane from by the entrance like he said. I immediately retrieved it from him.

"Thank you. This cane is very important to me." Sora smiled.

"I thought it was. Now, let's find my friends. Oh, by the way, theirs names are Riku and Kairi. Silver hair and red hair, you can't miss them."

"All right."

As Sora and I searched for his friends, I couldn't help but take in the amazing scenary of this island we were on. The cool breeze blowing from the sea was causing the leaves of the island's trees create a gentle sound of rustling. The noise of the waves lightly coming onto the shore of the beach had created a soothing sound that flowed into my ears. It was like I had slowly become part of this island's nature.

And then, a fireball came my way. I yelped as I jumped out of its way. Then, my found my feet frozen together and used my cane to keep myself from falling.

"Who are you?" a serious, young voice questioned. I managed to turn without falling to see another human, only taller and a little older than Sora and a bit of a menacing aura about him with his straight, silver hair and piercing, bright colored eyes. "Is that the cane we found?"

"U-uh..." I felt completely helpless in this guy's presence. I couldn't believe how vulnerable I felt at that moment. "A-are you... Riku, by any chance?" The silver haired human narrowed his eyes at me. Could the guy get any more scary?

Suddenly, Sora shielded me and gave a rather stern looking glare at the silver haired boy. It was obvious that he knew who that boy was.

"Riku, knock it off! This is Sly, the one that I saw in my dream!" he said.

"This is the raccoon guy you told us about?" the guy asked suspiciously.

"Definitely! Now let him go!" The silver haired man, apparently is Riku, huffed a little before my feet were free. Sora turned to me with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry about Riku here. He's the very serious type out of us."

I would say that he was more scary than serious. I admit, I was somewhat hesitant to speak, worried that Riku would probably attack me with... what ever he did to attack me with again. After getting my bearrings straight, I chose my next words very carefully, as to not get on Riku's bad side again.

"My name is Sly Cooper. I'm an acquaintance of Sora's. It's nice to meet you, Riku." I held back the urge to gulp in nervousness.

"You always seem to meet strange people, Sora." I hoped that was a good thing.

"You boys always leave me out!" a young girl's voice called. I turned to see a red haired human girl. She must be Kairi then. Wow, she was pretty, but probably not single. I'm not interested in her, mind you, I already have a wonderful wife.

Sora suddenly smiled happily as soon as he laid his eyes on Kairi. I suppose he must hold a very close bond with her.

"You made it just in time, Kairi! I'd like you to meet Sly!" he said happily. He then moved aside to let Kairi get a better look at me. I waved nervously at her, hoping she wouldn't attack me like Riku did. To my surprise, however, she smiled very kindly.

"You must be the one Sora saw in his dream. My name's Kairi and it looks like you've already met Riku. It's nice to meet you, Sly!" she said in a kind tone.

I couldn't help but smile back. She was a nice young woman, I could tell.

"It's nice to meet you too, Kairi."

"Alright, introductions are done," Riku said harshly. I felt a shiver go up my spine. "Now how did you get here?"

"W-well, I..." I still was intimidated by this guy, even if he's probably a few years younger than me.

"He came out of the door in the cave," Sora explained.

Both Kairi and Riku widen their eyes a bit in surprise. It looked like they knew about the door in the cave as well.

"The door in the cave?" Kairi asked.

"I'm telling you, that door's still a complete mystery to us, even to this day," said Riku.

"How long has that door been there, may I ask?" I couldn't help but be curious about that door. How did I just come out of it? It couldn't be magical, could it?

"Before we were even born, Sly," Sora replied.

"But one thing we know for sure, nothing out of that door doesn't have a meaning," Riku pointed out. "So there's a reason you were sent here to our world." Did... I hear that right?

"Riku!" Sora shouted, a bit angered by what must've been something that shouldn't have been said. Then, he sighed. "So much for explaining it nicely."

"Sora, he doesn't really mean..." I couldn't find the words to finish.

"Yeah." He placed his hands behind his head. "To us, you're... in layman's terms, an alien. You're from a different world than us."

My eyes widen in shock. I was considered an alien in this world? Although, in their defense, I'm pretty sure they've never saw someone like me before in their lives and I've definitely never seen a human before back in my world either.

Hold on. If I'm an alien, how were they so calm - uh, besides Riku - when they met me?

"A-are you serious? So I'm... like far from home?"

"Quite far," Kairi answered. "Several reason can exist as to why you're here."

"Um, quick question, though. I'm from another world, but you guys seem chill with me. How come?" Sora chuckled.

"Well, you're not the first talking animal we've met, believe it or not. They happen to be some of our closest friends. But they don't live on this world." I was even more surprised now. Where have these youngsters gone to that I couldn't even comprehend? This sounded like something Bentley would have a Field Day with.

"They're from another world too?"

"Yes. Very far from ours," Riku replied. "Maybe Mickey will have some ideas of what world you're from."

"Let's ask first," Kairi pointed out. "What's your world's name, Sly?"

"Earth."

"Earth..." The trio thought about it. Do they not know what Earth is? "Sorry Sly, I've never heard of that world before."

"Neither have I," Riku added.

"Even in my traveling, I never even heard the name," Sora commented.

I tilt my head slightly and gave a slightly confused look. They actually don't know what Earth is? Although, I guess their defense, I'm considered an alien to them in this world of theirs. But still, the thought of these three not knowing what Earth is... To be honest, it left a bit of an uneasy feeling in me.

"But like Riku said, maybe King Mickey will have an idea," Sora said, trying to cheer me up. Did he really say "King"? The thought made me nervous, especially with Riku, who I noticed didn't use "King", meaning he was close to this person. If they found out about my occupation, it may be off with my head!

"You're friends with a king?"

"You're nervous," Riku stated bluntly, making me jump a little. Man, I've really lost all my usual calmness with this guy around.

"Don't worry, King Mickey's really nice," Kairi assured. "And he's really smart too. I'm sure he'll be able to help you."

"And find out what Sly is doing in our world instead of worlds like Radiant Garden or Traverse Town," the serious one pointed out.

"How many worlds have you guys been to?" I couldn't help but ask in surprise. Sora gave this goofy grin that was too cute for a young adult such as himself.

"Sly, you have no idea the places I've been," he commented. This guy just doesn't have a cheerless side, does he? Although, in the dream, he was very serious. He also had that weapon... What was it called again? Something like a "blade" or something?

"We should probably see Mickey right now," Riku suggested. "Would you do the honors, Kairi?" Kairi gave a beaming smile.

"Stand back then, gentlemen!" she exclaimed excitedly. We stepped back a little and the redhead held out her hand. In a flash of light, strange yet beautifully designed sword with a key on the end merged.

"Is... Is that a...?"

"Oh yeah, this is the second time you've seen a Keyblade," Sora realized.

The Keyblade. That's right. He used it against those "Heartless" creatures in the dream.

"Judging by what Sora said, I'm guessing you saw a Keyblade once before, haven't you?" Kairi asked with a kind smile.

"Well, yeah, but only in a dream I had with Sora in it," I said.

"There were Heartless there, so I didn't have a choice," Sora explained. Kairi and, surprisingly even Riku, stepped back a bit in shock.

"Heartless? He saw Heartless?" Riku asked.

"Yes." Riku groaned a little and stared at the ground for a moment.

"Then this is a very serious situation. We need to tell Mickey about this right away."

"Uh, are the Heartless that threatening?"

"We can explain more once we see King Mickey," Sora assured. "Kairi, would you please?"

"One corridor to Disney Castle coming up!" she announced. Suddenly, the end of her Keyblade glowed and a vortex of color appeared. I couldn't back my surprise. Was that really a portal?

"Whoa! H-how did you... without a device...!"

"As we said, we'll explain when we see Mickey," Riku said.

I couldn't help but stare at the vortex in shock. Where would this even lead to? Would this thing actually take us to see this King Mickey that the three of them knew? Sora noticed my hesitant behavior and gave me a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Sly! Corridors like these are completely harmless! We use them all the time! Trust us!" he reassured.

"O-okay... Just had some unpleasant experiences with vortexes in the past. Long story."

"Again, you attract strange people, Sora," Riku chuckled lowly. So the guy could laugh after all. That's good to see. Kairi entered the corridor first, then Riku. Sora stated by my side with that goofy smile again. I knew I could trust him; he's the only person I can count on the most at the moment in order to get home. So with a deep breath, I stepped through the corridor with Sora following behind.

 **End Chapter**


	6. Sly: The Two Realms

**Chapter 3: The Two Realms**

The pathway we took after passing through that corridor was strange. I'd rather not dwell on it. I thought I would air for a moment. Finally, we stepped out of another passage, entering a lavish, lovely little garden.

"Is this a courtyard?" I asked.

"You could call it that," Sora replied.

I could tell that Sora was serious about this garden being like a courtyard. Although, to be honest, I don't think I've seen a courtyard like this one before.

"Is your friend here, Sora? It would help to get some answers about where I am."

"King Mickey should be here," Kairi said. "If not, there's-"

"Sora! Riku! Kairi!" The new voice surprised me. I turned around and there was a goofy-looking dog dressed as a knight coming up to us.

Sora immediately gave a huge smile full of happiness as soon as he laid his eyes on the dog. From the looks it, I could tell that Sora definitely knew who that dog was.

"Goofy! It's so great to see you again!" Sora exclaimed in an excited manner.

So his name is Goofy. There is so much about Sora and his friends that I don't know.

"Gawrsh, it's great to see all of you!" His name definitely fit him. This guy was pretty goofy.

"Goofy, is Mickey in at the moment?" Riku asked.

"Why yes, he's in the study right now." Then, Goofy seemed to have noticed me. "Who's your new friend, Sora?"

"Goofy, I'd like you to meet Sly Cooper. He's from a world that none of us have been to before!"

I then waved in Goofy's direction. While he does give off a very goofy vibe to him, he does seem like a very nice guy. Goofy then looked at me with a very intrigued look on his face.

"He's from a world that we've never visited before? Gawrsh, that sounds interesting!" Goofy said.

"He travelled from his world to the Destiny Islands." Sora said. "We were hoping Mickey could help us find out why."

"Goofy, what are you doing?!" a loud, almost obnoxious voice rang. It was so high pitched and gaggled. "His Majesty has ordered us!" A small, white duck dressed as a wizard marched from the building. I almost cracked up.

"Hey, Donald!" Sora greeted with his chipper tone.

The duck, who apparently has the name Donald, immediately gave a look of surprise as soon as he heard Sora's voice.

Another one of Sora's friends... This will take some getting used to.

"Sora?" Donald turned Sora's way. Then, he grinned. "Well, what do you know? Great to see you, Riku and Kairi again!" Donald made his way over to us and looked at me with a suspricious stare. "Who's this?"

"Donald, this is Sly. He's not from any world we've been to before," Sora explained. "And don't worry. We can trust him."

I waved at Donald, though a bit more nervously than I did with Goofy. While the suspicious look he gave me did soften up a bit, I just couldn't help but feel a little bit uneasy.

"Didn't Donald say we are being ordered somewhere? Shouldn't we get going?" Riku pointed out.

I was going to meet the king. I was feeling very nervous, especially in the presence of Riku and Donald.

"Yeah, you're right, Riku. We shouldn't keep him waiting any longer," said Sora.

"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's get going, everyone!" said Goofy.

We headed out to the study where the king was, with me still feeling nervous.

I wondered what this king looked like. Stereotypical lion? A rooster (better behaved and not selfish like Tsao)? Even if neither of them, he must be a powerful figure.

We turned a corner, which led to a large door. I felt myself shake a little in my boots. This King wasn't a giant, was he?

Donald pushed a section of the door. I didn't think he could push it open... until a smaller, more reasonable door popped open. Now I was just confused.

Donald gestered us to follow him through the door. On the other side of it was what looked like a gigantic library of sorts.

There was a desk in the back of the room and I could hear a quil moving along paper.

I looked towards the desk where I saw a mouse sitting behind the desk and writing on a piece of paper. I glanced at the others and I could tell by the looks of their faces that they knew who the mouse was.

Could this mouse actually be the king that we were told about? That's the first thing that came into my mind as I moved my gaze back towards the mouse.

"Is this the king you were telling me about, Sora?" Hopefully he could help me find out what's going on.

Sora glanced at me and nodded. Okay, this was surprising. I was, no offense to his Majesty, expecting a bigger guy.

The king looked up from his parchment in knowledge of our presence.

"Well, hi there, everybody! I'm so glad that you all came here today!" said the king in a cheery manner. He seems to be a very nice guy.

"It's nice to see you too Mickey," said Sora, "Something important must be going on for you to call us here."

"Gosh, you get words fast." Then, the king saw me.

"Y-your Majesty," I quickly greeted, bowing as good as I could without shivering a little.

"This is Sly, Your Majesty," Sora introduced me. Again. What's with me today?

I couldn't stop myself shivering out of fear when the king looked at me for a moment. Suddenly, that anxious feeling slowly melted away when he suddenly gave me a very kind smile.

"Sly, huh? Well, it's very nice to meet you! My name's Mickey, the king of this castle! It's very nice to meet you!" said the king, whose name was apparently Mickey.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm apparently from a world Sora's never been to before, and we were hoping you could help us figure out what's going on."

"A world Sora doesn't know of. This is certainly interesting." He then looked like a thought struck him and he began to ponder. After a few seconds, he looked back at me with a serious expression before turning to Sora.

"Sly's sudden appearance may be tied into what I'm looking into."

Sora then tilted his head a bit in curiousity.

"What you're looking into? What exactly do you mean, Your Majesty?" Sora asked.

Mickey researching something? If it's related to how I got here, I need to know!

"I had recently returned from Master Yen Sid's tower. He had called me for something urgent. Apparently, time and space had been slightly distorted."

"Distorted?" Kairi asked.

"He asked me to look into this. From what I found so far, there was some sort of burst of mysterious power that created a small wormhole from another world to another. Something of immense energy."

"So this burst of power ended up creating another a wormhole between two other worlds... But what exactly could these two worlds be?" Riku asked.

"Well, from what Sora said about Sly coming from a world that none of us has ever been to, I have reason to believe that these two worlds may be our world and Sly's world," said Mickey.

"I think I know what made this burst of power. A jewel I got during a meteor shower a while back was looked at by a friend of mine, and he noticed a huge amount of power coming from it. Could that power take me home?" I told them. Sora turned to me in great surprise.

"What did you say?" he asked. "A gem during a meteor shower?"

"Yeah. I have it right here." I pulled the gem out of my bag, but it felt a little different than when I held it earlier. Everyone in the room was surprised, even Riku.

"What is that?" Donald questioned. I could only shrug at him.

"There's two of them?" Kairi gasped. Wait. Two?

"Two? Two what?"

"Look, Sly." To my surprise, Sora pulled out a cyan version of the jewel I was holding.

I couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

"You have a jewel like I do, Sora?!" I asked with a voice full of surprise.

"You bet. I got this jewel during a meteor shower just like you did, Sly. Other than the fact that they're both different colors, they look exactly the same." said Sora.

Then I remembered how I saved Murray. "Dark creatures were attacking my homeworld, and to save one of my friends I ran towards him with jewel in hand, and when I open my eyes I see my cane transformed into the sword you use, Sora."

The room was filled with screams of shock.

"No way!" Sora exclaimed.

"You wielded a Keyblade?!" Riku asked.

"How is that possible?!" Donald shouted. "There's no way Keyblade wielders existed in your world!"

"I don't know how that happened either. I just wanted to save my friends and all of a sudden, it was there. My cane looked different, I could feel power rush through and before I knew it, I had slain those monsters."

Everyone in the room stared at me with the most shocked looks I've ever seen. To be honest, I couldn't really blame them for doing that. It was a complete shock to me when it happened to me when I was in my world.

The connection between me and Sora just keeps getting bigger. I didn't expect this at all when I got the jewel.

"Hmm... This is a strange situation we're in. I think we better start at the beginning of when all of this happened," King Mickey suggested.

I went ahead and told everyone in the study about the meteor shower on my world, the jewel, meeting Sora, and the Heartless attacking me world. They were most shocked by there being Heartless on my world.

I couldn't exactly blame any of them for being so shocked, though. Admittedly, I thought I would've seen the last of those things when I had that dream with Sora in it.

"There were Heartless in your world, Sly?!" Sora asked with a shocked voice.

I told Sora, "I have no idea how they got to my world, but yes, there were some Heartless there."

"This isn't good," Goofy pointed out. "If no Keyblade wielders live on Sly's world, the Heartless could destroy it!"

"Destroy?!" I exclaimed. I was horrified. Those things could destroy Earth?

The others looked at each other with worried expressions on their faces. It was obvious that they knew what the Heartless were capable of doing.

"This is really bad, everyone. Unless we can manage to get to Sly's world in time, who knows how long it'll be until the Heartless manage to destroy that world!" said Mickey.

"Gawrsh, but other than that wormhole that brought Sly here, how're we supposed to get there?" asked Goofy.

I said, "If that wormhole brought me here, maybe it can bring us to my home. That's my best idea."

"Well, likely, you first were in a bit of trouble," Riku stated. "You said you were being pulled down into darkness before you woke up on our island. I highly doubt we can replicate the experience."

"That is true. Unless there's some device that creates wormholes..." Now I was worrying more.

Oh. I forgot the reason we're here. "Your Majesty, do you know of a world called Earth?"

The king and his subjects gave me confused looks before the king gave my question some thought.

"Earth... Earth... Where have I heard that name before?"

"Never heard of it," Donald said with a tone I didn't like.

"Sorry, no bells ringing here," Goofy added.

"I believe... Master Yen Sid told me about a world called Earth, along with many other worlds," King Mickey finally answered.

"There's actually a world out there known as Earth, Your Majesty?" Kairi asked, her eyes widened up from surprise.

"Well, like I said, only Master Yen Sid told me about a world with that name, but I believe it's very likely that such a world like that one exists, especially since Sly's from a world with the same name," King Mickey explained.

This "Master Yen Sid" sounds like a smart guy. If I ever get back here, I want to meet him.

"So if Master Yen Sid knows of Sly's world, he may know a way to get there," Sora said.

"It's possible. Unfortunately, Master Yen Sid closed the gateway to his tower after I left. So we'll have to unlock the gateway manually."

"Gateway? Manually?"

"You see Sly, the world's are connected loosely by gateways in space," Kairi explained. "You can use special vehicles to travel between these worlds. There's also different methods of the same thing, but the vehicle method is the safest."

"So if we want to reach Master Yen Sid's tower manually, we'll have to go to Radiant Garden first," Riku pointed out.

I tilted my head in confusion as soon as I heard the name of the place that Riku had mentioned.

"I'm sorry, but what exactly is this Radiant Garden place?" I asked. "It's definitely a place I've never heard of back on Earth."

Sora said, "It's an important world for us to visit, one that's been the home of many people important to our adventures."

"You sure are friends with a lot of "aliens" as you put them."

"'Aliens'?" Donald deadpanned while giving Sora an unamused face. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Well, what're we waitin' for, everybody?" Goofy asked. "If we're gonna get to Master Yen Sid's in order to find out how we can get to Sly's world before the Heartless destroys it, then we better get goin' to Radiant Garden now before it's too late!"

"I trust you to help me get home in time, Sora." Hopefully everybody home is OK.

Sora gave me that cheerful, assuring smile.

"It's a promise."

At the moment he said that, I had the gut feeling that this will be my longest adventure ever.

 **End Chapter**


	7. Sly: New World, Ho!

"Chapter 4: New World, Ho!"

Would Bentley and Penelope do to be in this ship. I couldn't help but grin ear to ear at the thought. And I couldn't stop grinning because this ship apparently runs on happiness. Just the name of "Gummi Ship" was funny in itself, but I kept it to myself. I couldn't believe how many worlds I saw just by sitting in one place on the bridge of the ship. It made me wish the gang was here to see this. This place is amazing, Sora! Ever since I met you, I've seen and heard so many things that leave me shocked.""Glad you like the view, Sly!" Sora said, looking back at me with a smile."Personally, I never get tired of this whenever I come through here!"

I couldn't blame him for that. His world's are just amazing to even look at. "We'll be in Radiant Garden in a few minutes," King Mickey announced. I asked Sora, "What are we looking for when we arrive?" Sora then began to think for a moment, almost like he was trying to remember something. Hopefully what he was trying to remember is a way to this Yen Sid's tower. "Sorry, it's been a while since a path had to be opened manually for me," he apologized with a sheepish smile. How could a young adult like him be this cute? I bet he'd win an award for a Lolita Contest if it weren't for the spiky hair. "Gateways between worlds are opened by unlocking special keyholes with certain items. They sometimes need some time to locate them. Mostly, they're an important item."

"I see. So what item are we looking for?"

"It depends on the world and if it leads to Master Yen Sid's tower."

"I hope it's not a wild goose chase." Before I realized it, the sky outside was a sunset pink and yellow. Incredibly gorgeous.

"Like the view from up here?" Kairi asked, joining us. She had a reminiscing smile on her face. I looked down and I was surprised to see a floating town with a large, currently-in-reconstruction castle. It was magnificent from this high up.

"That's Radiant Garden."

"... Beautiful," was all I could say. It must be the most beautiful town I've ever seen.

I asked the group, "Does anybody have an idea of where we should start the search?

Sora then thinks for a moment or two again.

"Well, there are a couple of people that we know in Radiant Garden that we could ask for help," Sora said.

"And..." I looked down again. I could see a good sized opening in a street, but I doubt we'd allowed to park there. And no way am I jumping from this high, even with the parachute in my backpack. "How are we going to get down there?"

"Easy, I do this every time," Donald proudly stated. With a wave of his weird wand, there was a flash of light and suddenly, we were on the ground. The scent of flowers woffed my sense of smell.

I said, "I'm not even going to ask how you did that, Donald."

I then looked around the area that we managed to appear in. My initial reaction to Radiant Garden was exactly the same when I first saw the world from the Gummi Ship; it was just breathtakingly beautiful.

"Ah, Radiant Garden, wonderful that it's been fully restored," King Mickey commented.

"Restored?" I would like to tear apart anyone who would ruin such a beautiful place.

"That's part of the long story," Sora explained. I just nodded, still taking in the beauty of this world. I would love to take Carmelita on a date here.

"Let's go see everyone at the Radiant Garden Restoration Comittee," Kairi announced.

"If the people there are friendly, then sure, let's do that."

"Don't worry, Sly. Most of the members of the Radiant Garden Restoration Comittee are really easy to get along with!" Sora reassured, before giving a sheepish smile. "Well, most of them at least."

"Most of them?" I asked nervously.

"You'll see when we get there. Now, come on! We don't have time to waste!" Sora said with a voice full of eagerness.

The "most of them" part left an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

Speaking of that, as I followed Sora and the others, I realized that I was a little famished. I probably didn't notice because of the shift in the sky. But I didn't point out my slight hunger. We had something to do first.

After some walking, we reached a home well suitable for several people.

"Is this the place where the committee meets, Sora?"

"You bet it is," Sora said. "They're most likely inside right now."

"And you're sure that they'll be able to help us get to this Yen Sid's tower?" I asked.

"Well, it's best to at least give it a shot instead of not trying at all," Sora said. I guess I can't argue with that.

Sora eagerly opened the door. The inside was a mix between an infirmary, a cozy home and a lab. Sounds a lot like our hideout in Paris.

Inside were, I would say seven humans, one old guy with a beard and dressed like a goofy wizard, two girls, two boys that I could tell that I didn't want to mess with, an older guy at the computer desk, and a spiky, redheaded man. Interesting mix of people. I'm going on a limb that the younger blonde and the brunette guy were the people Sora told me that I might not get along with right away.

"Yo, gang!" the redhead greeted.

I wasn't expecting this many people. I guess we have a lot of introductions to do.

The other humans then turned towards us in surprise of hearing the redhead.

"Sora! Everyone! We weren't expecting to see you guys here!" A tomboyish girl with short, black hair said in the surprise.

"Sorry about the short notice," Riku said. "Something suddenly came up- more like someone came out." Riku glanced at me.

"Who's the blue guy?" the older blonde questioned. My nose scrunched a little. I already didn't like this guy's attitude.

"It's Sly," I told them, giving Sora a break from introducing me.

"Sora, you were saying these people may be able to help us."

"Ah, come on, Sly, give them a chance!" Sora reassured me. "I'm sure they'll be able to do whatever they can to help!"

"I'm taking your word for it."

"Over there is Yuffie and Aerith," Sora pointed to the two girls, "This is Cid," he gestured to the rude blonde, "these two are Cloud and Leon," we turned to the two tough guys, "this is Merlin the Wizard," Sora looked to the old guy (I almost laughed; "Merlin"), "and this is Lea, or Axel," he pointed to the redhead. That one seemed like the chill kind, someone I know I would like.

"And this is all one world? You know a lot of people, Sora!"

"Trust me when I say this, Sly. These guys were just the beginning of me meeting a bunch of different people in the worlds I've visited," Sora said.

I couldn't help but widen my eyes in surprise a bit. Sora actually knows tons of different people other than these seven? Just how many worlds did he even travel to?

"Well, nice to meet you, Sly!" the black haired girl, which I'm assuming to be Yuffie, greeted. The other girl Aerith waved with a smile.

"Quite a new friend you have there," Lea commented. "Where'd you meet him?"

"On the islands, actually," Sora replied.

"You met him there?" the brunette man, I'm guessing Leon, questioned.

"He came from another world. And that's why we're here."

"We need help in manually opening the pathway to Master Yen Sid's," King Mickey pointed out.

"Do you know anything about where we should look?"

"You need help in opening up the pathway to Yen Sid's?" Yuffie asked.

"Excuse me, but before we can try and help all of you, would it be alright if you told us why you need to find a way to open up that pathway, if you don't mind me asking?" Aerith asked.

"Master Yen Sid may know more about Sly's world," Riku explained.

"You see, Sly is not from any world we've visited before," Goofy added. "So we were hoping Yen Sid could help us."

"An unexplored world, you say?" Merlin inquired. "What might this world be."

"My home's called Earth," I told them.

"Never heard of that one," Cid commented. "Funny name too."

"It's _not_ funny."

"Earth... You'd think that's a world far beyond where anyone has been," the spiky blonde Cloud commented. "If anyone may have knowledge about it, it's Yen Sid. Possibly Ansem as well."

"Ansem?"

"Ansem the Wise, the ruler of this world and a friend of mine," King Mickey explained.

Sora said, "That's part of the long story, and if I started it now, we could be here for a long time."

"Yes, and we can see that the reason why you need to seek Yen Sid for his assistance is most likely an urgent one and can't be kept waiting," Aerith said.

"If anyone has something connected to the gateway, Ansem may have a better idea," Merlin said. "I suggest going to see him."

"And where would we find him?"

"At the castle," Sora replied like it wasn't a big deal. What's with these worlds and castles? "The guards will surely let us in."

"Then we should get going. If I ever find a way back to this world after going home, I'd like to come back and see you again."

Thanks, Sly. And if I ever manage to run into your world, I'd like to come and see you there too," Sora said with a smile. Now that thought alone gave me something to be eager about.

"Oh, before you go," Leon interjected, handing me a card. "A friend of Sora's is always a member in our committee." The card looked like a standard member card.

"Thank you." I accepted the card out of satisfaction that we were pals and joy that they accepted me.

I asked Sora, "So which way is it to the castle? Maybe on the way you could at least start this long story I've heard so much about."

"Well, luckily for you, Sly, we all practically know the way to the castle from here like it's the back of our hands! We'll get there in no time!" Sora said with a confident smile on his face.

Of course he knew the way. He's probably been coming here for years. I hope this Ansem the Wise has the answers I'm looking for.

"And now, let's begin the long story, but I'll try to be as specific as possible," Sora began as we departed from the connittee headquarters. The way he said "specific" led me to believe that this story really was a long one.

 **End Chapter**


	8. Sly: Ansem

**Chapter 5: Ansem**

The castle looked even bigger close up than from above it. I definitely wouldn't want to cross the guy that lived here.

Two guards stood at the foot of the door to the inside. Both looked like humans I wouldn't want to mess with or else I'll get a lance in my face.

"Do you think the people here will be able to help me, Sora?"

Sora looked over at me with a smile of reassurance.

"I'm sure they will," Sora said. "They're practically our best bet at this point."

I still couldn't help but gulp as we drew closer to the guards. Usually, I'm using stealth or disguise when I wanted to get in somewhere. But through the front door with nothing, it made me nervous.

"Who's this?" the long haired guy with the lance questioned, pointing his weapon at me.

"Dilan, this is Sly. He's a friend," Sora explained. "We need to speak with Ansem the Wise."

"It's on urgent matters," King Mickey added. I forgot the king knew this wise person. And, truthfully, you can't say "no" to a king affiliated with your ruler.

"Urgent matters? Well, if it's that important, I'm going to have to trust you, Sora."

With that said, the two guards then proceeded to step aside from the castle's door.

"All of you may enter," Dilan, the long haired man weilding the lance, said.

The doors opened slowly. We all go in and I stayed close to Sora just in case.

"This is an unusual, new companion of yours," a creepy voice commented. Nearby was a long haired man and a younger, dark haired guy with bangs over his right eye nearby. Both of them wore lab coats.

"Here to see Ansem, Even," Sora said.

How wise is Ansem really? I need to get a lead on Yen Sid soon, otherwise my home may be gone.

"You wish to speak with Ansem, you say?" the dark haired guy said. "For what reason would that be, if I may ask?"

"It's a bit of a long story, Ienzo," King Mickey replied. "However, to keep it short and simple, it's extremely important that we speak to him as soon as possible."

"We can tell by the looks on your faces that this is a rather urgent matter for all of you," Even, the long haired man, said.

"In that case, we'd be happy to escort you to Ansem if you'd like," said the younger male, Ienzo.

"We'd greatly appreciate it," his Majesty said. "Thank you."

The two led us down a tall hallway. Eventually, we came to a study. An elderly man in robes and slight greeting blonde hair was seated in the center with a pen in one hand and an ice cream bar in the other.

"Visitors, Our Lord," Even announced with a bow along with Ienzo.

"So that is Ansem, Sora? I'm guessing you've known him for a while."

"Yep, that's definitely him, Sly," Sora said. So, that man's the one and only Ansem the Wise I've been hearing about, huh? I could tell by just looking at him that he does give off a vibe of intelligence.

Ansem looked up from his work and for a split second appeared to meet my eyes. He truly had an air of wisdom around him.

"Pleasure to see you, everyone," he greeted. Wow, even his voice sounded wise.

"Hello, Ansem," King Mickey greeted. "We came here because we need to get to Yen Sid's tower. We were hoping you would have an idea on what the key to the tower might be."

"If you need to see Yen Sid, it must be urgent. Might it be related to this man here?" He must be meaning me.

"My name is Sly," I greeted.

"Sly? An interesting name. Not a name that would be common in the nearby worlds."

"That's why we need to see Yen Sid, Ansem," Riku replied. "Sly is not from any of the worlds any of us had previously discovered." Ansem looked a bit surprised.

"Surely, you don't mean... he could from the outside?"

"The outside?" Goofy questioned.

"Not meaning worlds that are not this one specifically. I'm into research on this and I found something very mysterious."

Ansem stood up - wow, he's tall for an elderly guy - and went up to a cabinet and pulled out a file. For the first time since I got here, I realized I couldn't read the written language in these worlds. I'd never seen words like them before.

"The worlds you have been to... are just a small fraction of our universe." The wise man handed the file to King Mickey. "I've theorized that these worlds are within a barrier that keep them closed from the thousands of others."

"So there are even more worlds?" Sora asked.

"Many more, Sora. More than can be counted. I suspect that possibly, Sly is from a world outside of the barrier. That is why you had never encountered his world before." All this talk about barriers made me think of the crazy dimension adventure and how we had to go through barriers in time and space to different universes.

"Do you think Yen Sid will help me get home, Ansem? Last time I was home, a Heartless attack started, and that worries me."

As soon as I mentioned the Heartless, I noticed Ansem's body tense up a bit. Is he also familiar with the Heartless?

"The Heartless have appeared in your world, Sly?" the wise man asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Yes, and I have been told that if we don't hurry back to my world, the Heartless will use the opportunity to destroy it. That's why we need to go to Yen Sid's Tower."

"Yen Sid will be someone to seek. I have only made a small breakthrough to the discovery of the barriers. So with that, it's as far as I can help."

Heartless... Traveling through space... and time... I really need to get home and see if good old Mother Earth is hanging in there!

"Um, Sly?" I heard Sora call. I looked at him for a moment before noticing the glowing from my satchel. I reached in and pulled out two things: the committed card and the strange jewel. They seemed to be reacting to each other or something.

What is going on with this jewel? And how could Sora have found one so similar?

I looked at everyone else in the room and needless to say, the expressions that they were making on their faces pretty much looked exactly like the one I was making. Even Ansem himself had a look of surprise on his face.

"Uh, are these things supposed to be glowing like that?" I asked out of confusion. This is getting weirder and weirder by the second.

"The card possibly, but the gem," Kairi answered.

"I believe you have already brought the answer to what you're looking for," Ansem said. I could hear the slightest hint of humor in his voice.

Was it me, or did I feel a tingle in the hand that was holding my cane? Not that I was able to tell anyone before Sora summoned his Keyblade. My card lifted itself from my hand and was floating in the air. The tip of Sora's Keyblade glowed and he looked like he was in a trance for a moment. When I looked up, I could swear that I saw the thin outline of a keyhole and the sound of something unlocking.

A moment later, the card came back down to my hand.

"There! We now have access to Master Yen Sid's tower!" Sora announced. He seemed unaffected by the trance.

I said, "Then let's get going. We don't have much time."

Everyone else nodded in agreement. I may not have known what just happened, but what I do know is that we can't waste any time getting to Yen Sid's tower. Who knows how long we have until the Heartless manage to destroy my world.

"Sly," Ansem called. "I will suggest that you and Sora be careful."

I could tell by Sora's face that he was just as confused as I was.

"Inhabitants of worlds in different barriers aren't supposed to cross paths unless it is an urgent purpose. So Heartless should not be in your world... unless the barriers were damaged."

"Damaged?" I didn't like the sound of that.

"The Heartless must've sensed the hearts of the worlds in your respective barrier and spilled into it. That's how the Heartless got there."

That didn't ease me that my gang would be alright for a little longer.

"Go. Meet with Yen Sid and find your way home."

"Thank you for your help," I replied.

"When I get home, I'm probably going to need your help getting rid of the Heartless, Sora."

"You can definitely bet that I'll do whatever I can to help your world out, Sly! In fact, all of us will!" Sora said with a beaming smile on his face.

In response, I gave Sora a smile of my own. It was nice knowing that him and his friends were willing to help me chase away the Heartless from my world once we got there.

I could tell from a single look that every one of them was very powerful and had the power to defeat Heartless.

"Alright, back to the ship everyone," King Mickey ordered. As we started filing out of the study, I had to scratch the back of my right hand. Why was it slightly itching like this, like something was being burned onto my fur?

 **End Chapter**


	9. Sly: Master Yen Sid

**Chapter 6: Master Yen Sid**

What was up with this itching? My hand was like this since we were in Ansem's study. I had to check what was going on and so I pulled my glove off.

"Huh...?" Were my eyes playing tricks? What was this weird, white sigil on the back of my hand?

"We should be at Master Yen Sid's tower in a few seconds," Sora announced. I quickly put my glove back on.

"So Sora, is there anything I should know about Yen Sid before we get there?"

Sora pondered for a little bit. He must be thinking of something about Yen Sid that he could tell me.

"Hmm... Honestly, there are so many things that're pretty cool about him, I actually don't really know where to start," Sora admitted. Just from those words alone, I could picture this Yen Sid being a very mysterious person in my head almost immediately.

"Yen Sid is a powerful wizard and a Keyblade Master," Donald threw out. "Don't get on his bad side." After my share of magical wizards and voodoo mamas, I could only nod.

"Oh,we're here," Mickey announced. I looked outside and saw an intersting tower on a land above the clouds. Definitely mysterious.

"The Mysterious Tower," Riku informed. The name definitely fit. How ironic.

"Do you think Yen Sid can get me home, Sora? I'm not sure how much time we have."

"Well, it may be possible that he can," Sora said. "Like Donald said, he is pretty powerful. So, I don't have any doubt in my mind that he'll be able to get you back home before the Heartless destroys your world."

Despite Sora's words, I couldn't help but feel rather anxious. Ever since I got to Sora's world, all I've been thinking about is if everyone I know is alright. Bentley, Murray, Penelope, Carmelita... I didn't know if any of them were still holding out while the Heartless were there. I don't even want to think about what would happen to them if we failed to get back in time.

The ship landed near the entrance of the tower. It looked much taller from a downwards angle now. Everyone casualy walked up to the door and King Mickey pushed it open.

"Hope you like stairs," Sora quickly threw out. Figures. Lots of stairs.

"How long does it take to reach the top? I don't want to tire out before we're done climbing."

"To me, it feels like it actually doesn't take that long to get up there," Sora said with a reassuring smile on his face. "It'll probably take a minute or two."

Looking up that staircase as soon as we walked in... "a minute or two", my stripes. I may be fit and have climbed many steps, but this tower took the cake.

Luckily, it didn't really feel like it took too long. We were at the top in maybe two to four minutes tops.

"Is Yen Sid through this door I see, Sora? Maybe he will help me get back to Earth."

"Yep, he's right inside, Sly," Sora said. I guess it was worth the entire walk all the way up here in the end.

Kairi opened the door. Inside was a small room, but just enough space for someone to think. In the middle was a desk and a tall, definitely powerful looking human with quite a fashion stating beard was sitting in a tall chair.

"Yen Sid," Mickey greeted and everyone bowed. I did it too out of respect. When I looked back up, I nearly jumped. He was looking at me.

"... So it was you who came through the disturbance." Even his tone was wise, just like Ansem's.

"Yes, that was me, and now I'm trying to figure out what happened so I can get back home."

"Based on the tone in the your voice, I can see that this is a rather urgent matter," Yen Sid said. "What, may I ask, is your name?"

"My name's Sly. Sly Cooper," I said.

"Hmmmm..." he made in acknowledgement, stroking his beard. "Sly, I believe you are aware that you are not from a world that exists in this section of worlds."

"Yes. Ansem the Wise said I may be from a world outside."

"The only way for a person from a completely different world to come to a world far from their own is if there was a disturbance in time and space, and they had worn down and something of great power is used to open a rift to a far off world."

"Like a tear in space?" Sora asked.

"Or a corridor of darkness," Riku suggested.

"Both are very similar, but the rift causes galactic travel. A Gummi Ship on its own can only travel within the walls of the barrier around all of us. This barrier is similar to ones normally surrounding the worlds, but it's stronger and keeps the worlds from drifting apart."

"So does that mean the barrier around our worlds and the barrier around Sly's world were weakened and then broken through?" Mickey asked.

"Very much. Both of our worlds would be affected. Is there anything that happened in common lately?"

"There was," I replied. "There was a meteor shower on my world."

"We saw one too," Sora added, gesturing to Riku and Kairi. "And that's not all." Sora pulled out the jewel and so I pulled out mine. "These appeared before us."

Yen Sid looked a bit stunned when he saw the jewels.

"At what time?"

"Two nights ago," I answered, then realized Sora said it too. We looked at each other in surprise.

"The same time?" Kairi gasped. "Is that coincidence?"

"No, Kairi. This is not coincidence," Yen Sid said, more serious than earlier. "This may be an omen that darkness is spreading even further. What with the appearance of the Chaos Emeralds, the worlds are in danger once more."

"Chaos Emeralds?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Mythical gemstones said to be created by God and with infinite power. In the wrong hands, even one Chaos Emerald can bring dire destruction. One even has the power to let someone transcend space and time for a short moment."

I said, "I had a friend of mine do some tests on the white one before I got sent to Sora, and he couldn't find much, but he did notice the amount of power inside."

"Then it appears that this friend of yours may have a vague idea of his own of how powerful that even one Chaos Emerald can be," Yen Sid said.

"He did have a look of shock on his face the moment he saw how much power it contained," I said. "But I'm pretty sure he would end up fainting if he finds out about what it can really do."

"As long as your friend has good intentions, there is no worry about the Emerald. However, it seems the gem's power had indeed activated at some points. This is called Chaos Control and not just any being can use Chaos energy naturally."

"Its power activated... do you think...?"

"Yes. You are very correct. You somehow managed to use Chaos Control when you were in a life-threatening situation and you were sent here through a rift. Something in your heart must've guided the Emerald to take you here. After all, you can't just suddenly appear in a random place when using Chaos Control."

"A guide?" I thought about it. What was I focused on when the darkness was pulling me in? A name came to my head for some reason at that time.

"... It took me to Sora," I said in realiztion. I had thought of Sora before I had blacked out.

I asked Yen Sid, "Is it possible to use this power to get home?"

"Considering the fact that you've managed to use the power of Chaos Control to come all the way here, solely by thinking of Sora, the possibility of using it to return back to your world is rather likely," Yen Sid said.

Despite the lingering feeling of worry I felt in my body, I couldn't help but feel a bit relieved when I heard that the possibility of using Chaos Control to return back to my own world does exist.

"However, it seems that since you had no former awareness or presence of Chaos energy, the Chaos Control was instinctive when you were in danger. So I do not believe it can be repeated."

"It can't?" My heart sank at that. If I can't use Chaos Control properly by will, what did that mean for Earth?

"There may be one way with the current inexperience." My ears perked at that.

"Anything!"

"Tell me, Sly." Yen Sid stood up. "Have you wielded a Keyblade?"

"Y-yes. One time on my world to defend my friends."

What is Yen Sid suggesting? That I try to summon it again?

"So you have been able to summon a Keyblade of your own. And how exactly did you manage to make that possible?" Yen Sid asked.

"Honestly, I'm not sure myself. I was just so focused on trying to protect my friends from harm at the time. I didn't even realized I summonded it until one of them pointed it out," I said.

"A beginning Keyblade wielder needs to find what makes their Keyblade appear for them and make it disappear when not threatened. Overtime, it will appear at will with experience. But for now, use that same desire to protect what's important to you to summon your Keyblade once more."

I stared down at my cane, thinking of that moment before that Keyblade appeared. When the Heartless attacked my friends, just wanting to save them no matter the cost was all I thought about. And right now, I want to be sure they're alright. Nothing else matters most to me than their safety.

Did I see a spark on my cane? Was it just me? Suddenly, my cane was glittering with light. Everyone in the room, except the surprisingly calm Yen Sid, was looking very surprised. Then in a flash, there it was. That very Keyblade that saved my friends.

"Whoa!" Sora jumped in surprise.

"What?!" Donald shouted.

I couldn't help but stare at my cane- No, the Keyblade in surprise as I gripped onto its handle tightly in my hand. I honestly wasn't expecting it to actually work, but it did.

"I... I actually managed to summon it again..." I said with a hint of surprise in my voice.

"How is that possible?" Riku asked. "A Keyblade needs to be passed down from a previous Keyblade wielder to a successor. And Keyblades can't exist anywhere else but here."

"This is very mysterious, but we must move on for now. Sora, your assistance will be needed."

"Oh. Okay." Sora summoned his Keyblade.

"Now both of you, raise your Keyblades to the Chaos Emeralds you've been entrusted with." Although neither of us could guess what would happen, Sora and I held out the gems and they levitated.

Levitated. I'm a bit intimidated.

Sora confidently pointed the tip of his Keyblade at the cyan Emerald. I followed his demonstration and pointed towards the white Emerald. I could feel it again, that sudden rush of power.

Small beams of light shot from the points of our Keyblades and were absorbed into the Chaos Emeralds. The jewels glowed even brighter than I've ever seen them glow. After a few seconds, the light dimmed.

"What just happened?" I couldn't help but ask.

"ACK!" Donald quacked in shock. He was looking out the window and we went to look. What we saw really surprised me. It looked like... a vortex into space.

"A duo-Chaos Control," Yen Sid explained. "In which two users, both inexperienced or one or none, use two Chaos Emeralds to transcend time and space. The portals aren't open for long, but they allow travel to other worlds and periods of time."

I asked, "Like my world, Yen Sid?"

The nod that Yen Sid gave me was the only answer I needed in order to help get my hopes up.

"With the portal you and Sora have created, Sly, you and everyone else should be able to use it return to your world to reunite with your friends," Yen Sid said.

I couldn't help but give a small sigh of relief when I heard those words. Slowly, the thoughts of me returning to my world to protect everyone I knew from the Heartless started to flood my mind.

I stared down at the Keyblade in my hand as I thought that. With this, I can definitely protect them.

"Thank you so much," I said to the wizard with a respectful bow.

I asked, "Are you ready to head out? Let's not keep my friends waiting."

"We're ready to go to your world when you are, Sly!" Sora said with an enthusiastic smile on his face.

In response, I gave Sora a smile of my own.

"Trust me, Sora," I started. "I'm definitely ready to get back home to help my friends."

All of you," Yen Sid called, gaining our attention. "This may be the greatest threat we've ever seen. The arrival of the Chaos Emeralds means that something dark beyond any past threat has come."

I responded, "We'll be careful, Yen Sid."

"Very well then," Yen Sid said simply. "I wish all of you good luck on your journey."

"We thank you for your assistance, Yen Sid", Mickey said before turning to face the rest of us. "Now then, everyone, let's head back to the Gummi Ship and start making our way to Sly's world."

I didn't need to be told twice and I just went out the door and Rail Slide down the railing of the stairs in joy. I was getting home, and I can save my gang.

"I'm going to need help when we get to my home, Sora. I can't save my friends on my own."

"You can definitely bet that I'm gonna help out, Sly! No exceptions!" Sora said with a bright smile spreading across his face.

"Kairi and I will also have the honors of helping out alongside you two," Riku said. "If the Heartless are actually roaming around your world, Sly, then we'll need to use our combined strengths to stop them before they cause too much havoc."

"Of course. Plus, I'm honestly really interested to see what your world looks like for myself! You know, minus the Heartless, after all," Kairi said.

"It's beautiful in its own right." We all started stepping back into the Gummi Ship to head into the rift. Something struck me first.

"Sora."

"Yeah?"

"Why did Yen Sid suggest you, as if he knew something?"

"What do you mean?"

"He said 'entrusted with'. Doesn't that strike you as strange?"

"Yes it does. Maybe there's something going on here that we don't know."

"Maybe's a bit of an understatement. I think 'definitely' may be a better term for that sentence."

"I guess I can't argue with that. Sheesh, now that we're having this conversation, it's starting to make me even more curious as to what Yen Sid meant in his words."

"Not even you know?"

"He talks cryptically sometimes." Sounded a lot like Bentley and Penelope's big words.

"Maybe we should just figure it out ourselves."

"That's how we usually figure things out."

"Next stop, Earth!" Mickey announced as the ship got off the ground.

Hopefully my gang hasn't been hurt too bad during the time I've been gone, but the time has come for me to return home and see how they've been doing.

At top speed, the Gummi Ship almost immediately had flown into space and eventually made its way into the vortex that Sora and I had created. This was it. This was our perfect chance to go to Earth to protect not only my friends, but our entire world from the Heartless before they could have the opportunity to completely obliterate it.

 **End Chapter**


	10. Sly: Earth, Sweet Earth (Is in Danger!)

**Chapter 7: Earth, Sweet Earth (Is in Danger!)**

It didn't take very long, I would say four to five minutes, to reach the other side of the vortex. More familiar stars filled the vaccuum of space. And there it was... my home, beautiful Earth.

"So that's your world, Sly," Sora commented, looking very awed.

"Yeah. It looks great from a view."

"I can't wait to land so we can finally see what Earth looks like on the surface!" Sora said with a hint of excitement in his voice.

I couldn't blame him for being so excited to see my world. I was just as happy to finally be back home after I ended up in Sora's world. Of course, I couldn't celebrate right now, especially since all of us on the Gummi Ship, myself included, were well aware of what's going on down there.

"The world needs saving, so lets get to it!"

A thought struck me though.

"How will you three not attract attention?" I had to ask, looking at Sora, Riku and Kairi. "As I've told Sora, there are no humans on Earth. The word doesn't exist here."

"I think Sora mentioned something like that," Kairi commented.

"You leave that to me," Donald proclaimed, holding up his staff.

I looked at Donald in confusion. Sora appeared to have noticed my expression and gave me a smile.

"What Donald means is that he's going to give the three of us forms that'll help us fit in better when we get down to Earth," Sora explained.

"He can actually do that?" I asked in surprise.

"You bet he can. He's done this with himself, Goofy and I tons of times before, I've honestly lost count."

"Then let's do that. Anything to help save this world."

"But where do we start?" Goofy asked. I looked carefully at Earth and pointed towards the familiar tower.

"There. That's where my friends and I were before the Heartless attacked us."

"Then, that city it is!" Mickey announced.

"Here we go!" Donald began waving his wand and a light radiated. Once more, I found myself on concrete. A familiar sky, a familiar tower and feeling. I was home in Paris.

"I'm home," I said as I looked around Paris in bewilderment. Despite the fact that the Heartless may still be lurking around here, the city still looked exactly the way it was before I was sent to Sora's world.

"Woah, so this is what your world looks like, Sly! It looks cool!" I heard Sora's voice say.

"I'm glad you like it, So-" I began to say before I ended up stopping in surprise as soon as I turned around to look at the others. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy remained the same as they usually looked. However... Let's just say it was Sora, Riku and Kairi that really took me off guard.

"I didn't expect you to look like that, Sora."

"I... didn't either." The three were looking themselves over, still in the same clothes at least. Sora was a lion, thankfully not like Octavio. He was still on the young side with his spiky hair as his mane. Kairi, to my surprise, was a caracal with tanned peach fur and dark red tipped ears. I nearly jumped at the sight of Riku: he was a leopard.

Based on the expressions the three of them had on their faces, it was safe to say that they were just as surprised as I was. Even Riku didn't seem like he was expecting to look the way that he does right now.

"I'm not sure how long it will take for the feeling of surprise to wear off, but should we go look for my friends while we process this?"

"That would be a good idea," Riku said, calming down pretty quickly.

I guided everyone to where my gang was hiding out. But then, I realized something. I never told them that I was a thief. Oh god, I would be destroyed if I spilled a word about this. And what would they do when they meet my friends?

I heard static in my ears. I can't believe I forgot about the earpiece. Of course, being in a different world, there would be no signal.

"S-...! I'm-...! a signal...!" I noticed Sora seeing me slow down.

"What's the matter, Sly? You're kind of slowing down a little bit," Sora said. I knew it was pretty much inevitable that one of them was bound to notice me slowing down in my pace.

I have a communication device that keeps me in touch with my friends on my ear, and I think it just picked up a signal."

"SLY!" Bentley's voice screamed with a speech from the speaker.

"Ow!" I cringed, bringing a hand to my ear.

"Thank heavens! I finally found your signal! Are you okay?! What happened?! Where did you go?!"

"Bentley, Bentley! I'm alright. Calm down. I'm on my way and I'll tell you everything. And prepare some space for some guests."

"Guests?! What do you mean, 'guests'?!"

"Um, let's just say I made some new friends when I was gone," I said, giving a nervous chuckle afterwards.

"Sly, that doesn't exactly answer my question! Who are you bringing?!"

"I'll explain everything once we get there, Bentley. And trust me, it'll definitely be a pretty long story. Just hang tight."

"Alright. But if they pull a gun on us, don't blame me." Bentley cut the connection.

Who was that, Sly?" Sora asked.

"My friend Bentley, one of the smartest people I know, had trouble staying calm when Chaos Control activated. Hopefully he can stay calm when you come in, Sora."

"I guess."

I didn't want to waste any more time for my team. So we hurried until I saw the familiar house.

"What's that house over there, Sly?" Kairi asked out of curiousity.

"It's where my friends and I live around here," I explained. "They must be inside right now as we speak."

"Cool! I can't wait to meet your friends inside, Sly!" Sora said in excitement.

I was just as excited as Sora to see my friends again. Hopefully they've been doing well.

We approached the front door, me making sure that no one was around first, before we slipped inside. Shortly after entering, large, crushing arms grabbed me.

"Ah!" Gah-! Murray...!

"Sly! Buddy! You're alright!" he exclaimed, crushing me in his signature hugs.

"M-Murray, I'm happy to see you too, but- Gah-! Y-you're kind of crushing me right now!" I said, trying desperately to get some air from the tight bear hug Murray was giving me.

"Oh, right. Sorry, Sly," Murray said sheepishly, letting me go from his tight embrace.

"Do you know where Bentley is? We talked earlier, and I think he's expecting an explanation about where I've been. I made some new friends while I was gone."

Murray easily looked over me, seeing my new companions.

"Hi there!" he greeted cheerfully. "You must've helped Sly out! The Murray gives you his full gratitude!" Sora and Kairi nearly cracked up when he said, "The Murray."

"W-we're glad to help, Murray was it?" Sora thanked.

"Yep! A friend of Sly's is one of ours!"

"Ringtail, you better get in here this minute!" There went the wonderful voice of my Carmelita, coming from another room.

"Who was that?" Donald asked.

"My wife," I simply stated. They stared at me in surprise. Right, I didn't tell them I'm married.

"Wow, you're actually married, Sly?!" Sora asked in surprise. I couldn't help but give a bit of a sheepish chuckle in response.

"Yep. Her name's Carmelita. We've been married for at least a few years now," I said. "But this isn't exactly the right time to be talking about my love life right now."

"I think she's wondering where I was. But she's probably not the only person that wants an explanation. Are you ready to help explain what happened?"

All of them nodded.

"Everyone else is in the living room," Murray informed.

"Thanks, big guy." We all headed to the largest room - besides the lab downstairs - and there was the rest of the team. As soon as I entered the doorway, their attention was on me.

And before I knew it, all of them almost immediately ran over to me with the biggest smiles they could possibly give.

"Sly! You're actually back!" Penelope greeted me happily.

"Thanks! I was worried about how I would get home, but I'm back now, and I guess I have some explaining to do."

"We had no way of pinpointing where you were!" Bentley pointed out. "It was like you never existed! Even the DNA finder couldn't help!"

"You really had us worried ever since you vanished, Ringtail," Carmelita said. "But now that you're back here safely, I think I can officially sleep easily now."

I gave a bit of a chuckle. I was really happy to see Carmelita after so long. In fact, I was happy to see everyone I knew again. Although, it was safe to say that there were a ton of questions from them that were just waiting to be asked. And the first one asked by Bentley as soon as he saw the others was just the start of things.

"I'm assuming these six individuals are the 'guests' you informed me about before you got here?" Bentley asked.

"You are right about that. I had planned to tell you about the first person in this group that I met, Sora, but I couldn't because of the attack."

Sora waved.

"Wait. You met before?" Penelope asked, puzzled.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you originally. Sora and I... met in my mind while I was unconscious."

"Sly, several different versions of yourself went into your mind once. You think we wouldn't believe this?" Oh. Right, that one incident.

"You make a point."

"Where did they come from?" Carmelita questioned with her firm tone.

"We're from another world," King Mickey stated.

"Another world?"

"Believe them, guys, I was there," I supported.

"Well, considering the fact that Sly seemingly did completely vanish with virtually no way of us finding out where he was here on Earth, the possibility of him ending up in a different world where these people live in does have a vague existance," Bentley pointed out.

"You do have a point about that," Penelope said before looking over at the others. "By the way, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly is this world that you're from called?"

"Sora, Riku, and Kairi are from the Destiny Islands, and the others are from the Disney Castle, but these people have been to many different worlds."

"We've lost count," Sora pointed out, though it was in a joking manner.

"Oh, and before I forget, I should probably be honest with you guys about something," I started before looking over at the others. "You see, these guys aren't exactly like us. You know, in their appearance."

Needless to say, the expressions of confusion my gang gave me was the only response I needed from them.

"Um, what exactly are you talking about, Sly?" Bentley asked.

"They were actually transformed into this by their friend, Donald, over there," I said, looking over at Donald. "Well, Sora, Riku and Kairi were transformed, anyway. In reality, they're beings that they call 'humans'."

"Could you change them back to human form, Donald?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Goofy asked. I could see why this would make things more difficult.

"We've seen stranger things."

"Donald," King Mickey said. The king and magician made eye contact before Donald summonded his staff again.

It wasn't until long that Donald proceeded to wave his staff and the room soon became bathed in a bright light. It took a few seconds, but the light eventually dimmed down and standing right before us were Sora, Kairi and Riku in their original forms. Needless to say, my friends were absolutely speechless as soon as they saw them.

"Uh, you guys are seeing this too, right? Not just me?" Bentley asked with a perplexed tone in his voice as he adjusted his glasses a bit.

"Definitely not just you," Carmelita replied.

Sora smiled nervously while Kairi looked sheepish and Riku kept a calm face.

"Which leads me to a question first: what happened after I disappeared?"

"Those things just suddenly disappeared like they were following you," Murray spoke up. "A few did show up afterwards."

"So Bentley said to retreat," Carmelita added. That relieved me that they were okay.

"So what were those monsters?" Penelope questioned.

"I think it's best that these guys explain it you. Trust me, they've fought those things for a very long time. Longer than we have," I said.

"Very well then," Bentley said as he then looks over at Sora. "So, Sora, was it? Care to explain to us what those creatures unimaginable to mankind we fought were?"

"Well, for starters, they're known as 'Heartless' where we're from," Sora began.

If Sora said to me that he'd be as specific as possible when explaining his story, then we might be here a while.

It did take a few minutes for the group to get through their explanation of the Heartless, but my gang looked petrified either way.

"Oh my goodness," Penelope said in shock.

"So what you're saying is that unless we get rid of the Heartless, our world will get destroyed?!" Bentley asked.

"Basically, yeah," Sora simply said.

"But how are we supposed to fight back against them?! Before Sly vanished, my fists only went through them as if they were air!" Murray exclaimed.

"The same can be said when I used my shock pistol on them," Carmelita added.

"Easy," Kairi started. "We fight back against them using these."

At that moment, Sora, Riku and Kairi held out their hands and in a few seconds, their respective Keyblades then appeared in flashes of light.

"How did you do that?" Bentley asked, adjusting his glasses.

"That's complicated," Kairi replied. "King Mickey has one too."

"Wait! Sly had something like that for a moment!" Murray reminded.

"Right. For some reason, Sly's able to wield a Keyblade of his own," the king said.

"Uh, not meaning to change the subject, but you're a king?!" Penelope questioned, obviously a bit shaken. The rest of the gang looked a little stunned as well. Then, Bentley looked over to me and glared.

"Sly. You. Brought. A king. To our HIDEOUT?!" he shouted. Okay, now he was ticked.

I couldn't help but give a nervous chuckle. There was definitely no way I was going to hear the end of it from Bentley now that he knew that King Mickey was actually royalty.

"Yeeeeeeeah. I pretty much did," I said nervously.

"Hey." Donald looked at me in disapproval.

"That's not the point, Sly!" Bentley snapped. "He could have us arrested!"

"'Arrested'?" Kairi asked, a bit surprised. I went tense. I nearly lept out of my fur when Riku looked at me with that cold expression.

"Are you criminals?" he questioned.

"U-u-uh, we're... y-you could say..."

"I didn't see any intention from him to steal when he was at the castle," King Mickey said. "And he's only been polite so far. You're not the average, petty thief gang, are you?" The king got it? Somehow, that made me so relieved. Relieved enough to sigh in such manner.

"It's part of my lineage. The Cooper family only steals from the greedy and those who abuse power," I explained as calmly as I could under Riku's glare.

"The greedy and people who abuse their power for themselves? So, does mean you guys are essentially like the Robin Hoods of this world?" Sora asked out of curiousity.

"In a way, I guess you can call us that," I said.

That reaction could have been so much worse.

"Riku, you can drop the look now," Kairi pointed out. "It's obvious they have their morals." Riku finally looked away.

"Gawrsh, and Sly was looking forward to seeing all of you again," Goofy said to my team. "He was worried."

"How could I not? These guys are family to me."

"Yeah! The three of us grew up together!" Murray commented, pulling myself and Bentley close. Thankfully, it wasn't for another bone crushing hug.

"And the original three members," Bentley added.

"Together, we're known as the Cooper Gang," I then said.

"That's pretty interesting," Kairi said before looking over at Penelope and Carmelita. "And what about you two?"

"Well, to start off, I was a more recent member of the Cooper Gang after I joined them in Holland," Penelope began before her face then suddenly became glum in its expression. "Although... There was a time where did end up temporarily leaving them for specific reasons."

"'Specific reasons'? What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"I'd rather not talk about it. It's a little too personal for me, you see."

Honestly, I couldn't blame Penelope for not wanting to talk about her betrayal. That was a really tough and emotional time not just for her, but for all of us involved. So, I could understand that the topic made her pretty uncomfortable and it was definitely clear to Sora and the others.

"Sorry for asking. I guess I should've been more considerate," Sora said. "But, moving on now, what about you, Carmelita? What's your story with the Cooper Gang?"

"Oh, where do I even begin?" Carmelita said with an amused smile on her face. "Before I joined the Cooper Gang, I was originally a police officer working for Interpol. Unsurprisingly, my main goal ended up becoming trying to bust Ringtail and his friends. We ended up having quite a lot of run-ins with each other since the day I first encountered them. Emphasis on 'a lot'."

I said, "But now she's left Interpol to work with us."

"A cop that joined up with thieves?" Riku asked.

"Well, we did end up partnering up a lot despite the 'circumstances' between us."

"But the gang showed they were just and thorough, so I joined."

"That's understandable," Sora said.

"Okay. Back on to what happened when Sly disappeared," Bentley spoke up.

My new friends and I went into explanation of our encounter.

"I see. So you came to help eliminate the Heartless from our world, which may have come from your worlds," Bentley summarized.

"That's right, Bentley," the king confirmed. "All we need to do is locate the Keyhole of this world and lock it."

"That may be a problem," Carmelita commented. "Earth is huge with lots of monuments and areas. There's no way we'd able to search the whole planet and find a specific keyhole before the Heartless find it."

"Carmelita brings up a good point," Penelope stated.

"Locating a Keyhole is a struggle in itself," Riku informed. So now we're facing a new problem. How were we going to find the Keyhole? It made me really wish we'd had some way of guiding us to it.

"Uh, Sly, your cane," Murray pointed out with wide eyes. I looked down at my family heirloom that I had placed on the table. The end had a small light. So I picked it up and instantly, my Keyblade appeared. Without me focusing so hard to summon it.

To say that my gang was surprised would be an understatement. Either stunned or speechless would probably be more proper terms for the expressions they made.

"It's just like what happened when we fought those Heartless before Sly vanished," Carmelita said.

I said, "As far as I know, I'm not supposed to be able to use a Keyblade, but here it is."

"A Keyblade needs to be passed down from a previous wielder," King Mickey explained. "So it's a mystery why Sly has possession of one, if Keyblades don't exist in this world."

The light on the end continued to glow. Suddenly, it detatched and started flying around rapidly. A few of the others ducked to avoiding being in its way before it flew out the window.

"What the heck just happened there?!" Bentley shouted. Although, who could blame him for being shocked about what just happened.

"I have no idea," I said as then turned to the others. "I'm hoping you guys know exactly what was that just now?"

Sora said, "I don't remember that happening with my Keyblade."

The other wielders shook their heads. This kept getting even more confusing.

My Keyblade suddenly jerked on its own towards the window where the light flew off.

"Sly?" Carmelita called in surprise.

"I've seen this happen before!" Sora exclaimed. "When that happens out of the blue, it's towards the Keyhole!"

"Does... that mean Sly's Keyblade can locate the Keyhole?" Penelope asked.

"If Sly's Keyblade suddenly jerked like that, then that must be the case!" King Mickey exclaimed.

"And if it's pointing towards the window where that light flew out of, then that should be some sort of clue that the Keyhole we're looking for has to be close by," Kairi said.

"I suppose that saves us the trouble of having to travel all over Earth just to find it," Bentley commented.

"Then let's go follow it and see where it takes us."

"Oh. Before that." I could only smile sheepishly at the only humans in the room. If anyone else saw them, they would be calling Area 51 about hairless aliens. So Donald quickly used his magic to transform them again.

I felt determination flood my being as we headed out. My Keyblade was acting as if it was following that light to the Keyhole. Hopefully, that's where we would find it.

 **End Chapter**


	11. Sly: The Keyhole Tower

**Chapter 8: The Keyhole Tower**

I couldn't help but be amazed at how Sora and his friends were able to keep up with me and Carmelita on the rooftops. We have been doing this for years (back then on opposite sides of the law) and yet they were right on our tails.

I finally spotted the light from my Keyblade. It really seemed to be guiding us to somewhere. Wherever it went, my Keyblade jerked slightly in my hand in its direction.

After many rooftop leaps and rail walks, we were just kilometers away from the Eiffel Tower.

"What's that Tower called anyway, Sly?" Sora asked.

"The Eiffel Tower, pretty much the center and trademark symbolism of Paris, France," I explained. I turned to them in case they were confused. "Lots of countries identify France with this."

"I like Paris so far, it's almost like Radiant Garden," Kairi commented, looking around.

"Yes, it's a beautiful city."

"Hey, the light!" Goofy pointed towards the light. Our eyes followed it, watching the glow loop and zig. I was literally feeling my brain hurt until it flew up to the tip of the tower.

"It went to the top!" Murray exclaimed from the streets.

"Could it be where the Keyhole is?" Penelope wondered.

"If that's the case, that was easy," Carmelita commented.

If it really is at the top, then we should start making our way up once we get to the base."

"Precisely," Bentley said simply.

"We should also be on guard on the way there," Riku added. "You never know when the Heartless might come out to strike the moment they get the opportunity to do so."

"Agreed." Bentley began typing away at his digital laptop. "After Sly vanished, I made slight modifations to the system that picks up time distortions to be able to trace space ruptures as well."

"You certainly are prepared, Bentley," the king complimented. "I bet Chip and Dale would be amazed by you and Penelope."

"Who?"

"Engineers at the castle."

"Let's hurry and seal the Keyhole," Riku reminded. "The sooner, the better." We all silently agreed and headed to the tower. But then, I sensed something nearby and had to stop.

"Sly?" Carmelita called out.

"I feel like... we're being watched," I told them. It felt like hundreds of eyes were following our every move.

"You're right, Sly! I'm picking several space ruptures... gathered around you!" Bentley shouted in panic. As soon as those words came out, the Heartless suddenly appeared.

"Do you think you could help me here, Sora? I don't have the experience with a Keyblade that you do."

"Sure thing, Sly! I'll teach you everything I know until you get the hang of it!" Sora said as he then proceed to summon his Keyblade.

"Don't forget about us, Sora!" Kairi added, followed by her summoning her own Keyblade with Riku doing the same thing. I was glad that they were willing to teach me how to properly use my Keyblade, at least until I got a better understanding on how to use it.

"First, basics are using it as a sword," Riku stated the obvious. In one swoop, he sliced through several Heartless. "Close range."

"There's also magic you can do, but I think we need to save that for another time," Sora pointed out. Suddenly, more Heartless were vaporized by lightning bolts. I nearly jumped, though I should be used to magic after many experiences (mostly unpleasant) with it.

I caught a witch looking Heartless coming my way and quickly swung my Keyblade. It instantly dissipated.

"Wow, you've got some power in that already," Kairi said before taking out more of the monsters.

"Why are they after Sly?" Murray called.

"It's not just him, it's all of us," the king stated with a Keyblade of his own. I forgot he wielded one time. "The Heartless are attracted to the Keyblade."

That is going to take some getting used to.

"Is there a reason why they're attracted to that weapon in particular?" Penelope asked.

"To keep things simple, they basically fear the Keyblade more than anything else that you can possibly imagine," Sora said as he swung his Keyblade through a few Heartless that resembled bulldogs.

"It's a bit of a long story, but we'll explain it in more detail once we take care of these guys!" Kairi said, taking down a flower-like Heartless in the process.

A few more witch ones came my way and through experience, it was actually a breeze to cut them down to size.

"This works wonders," I said out loud, looking down at the hook end. Suddenly, the back of my right hand itched again. The worst time an itch had to come up. I quickly pulled up the hem of my glove, but to my surprise, the mark was... glowing?

I suddenly had a bulldog Heartless in my face and I sliced through it like butter.

"You okay, Sly?" Sora asked. Looked like that was the last one. For now.

I think I'm fine. Thanks for asking, Sora."

"Well, it looks like we managed to chase away the Heartless for the time being," the king said.

"We can't get too relaxed, however," Riku added. "You can never feel too safe and think for a second that the Heartless won't come out again after taking care of them the first time."

"It's a good thing I made that modification to my laptop," Bentley commented. "It's sure to get easier to know when the Heartless are going to attack us as we make our way to the Eiffel Tower."

"Keep on the lookout, Bentley."

We were getting even closer to the base of the tower now. But then my nose twitched. There was some faint odor in the air. It made my nose wrinkle.

"Does anyone else smell that odor in the air?"

"Actually, now that you say that, I kind of smell something weird too," Sora said before covering his nose. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who didn't like that smell.

"What even is that?" Kairi said while also covering her nose. "I honestly don't think I've ever smelled something that bad before in my life!"

"What is that?" Riku's nose wrinkled too.

"Only one person can release an odor this pungent," Penelope said, pinching the tip of her own.

If the person is who I think it is, then we have trouble.

"I'm guessing by that, you all know who exactly is releasing this stench that we're smelling as we speak?" the king asked as he covered his nose.

"All too well," Carmelita said with a wrinkled nose. "And I think it's safe to say that he may be close by to where we currently are."

"But how? He was in solitary confinement last I checked."

"Let me see..." Bentley looked again. His eyes widened behind his glasses. "What?! No signs of a break in, but the cell was one day found empty! How is that possible?!"

"You mean...?!" The smell got stronger. He was closer now.

I can't believe it! How did Le Paradox get out?

"Guys, I really don't understand how this is even possible!" Bentley exclaimed with a hint of shock in his voice. "There's no way he could've gotten out of solitary confinement without some sort of assistance!"

I really couldn't blame Bentley for freaking out like this. The thought of Le Paradox somehow getting out of prison without help just sounded extremely hard to believe for all of us. Although, it was pretty obvious that Sora and the others had a bit of difficulty trying to understand what the big deal was. I can understand, though. They're from another world, so they clearly didn't have any idea as to who we were talking about.

"Who are you guys talking about?" Donald demanded.

"You're about to find out."

The stench was almost unbearable now. He was here.

"Ah, Cooper Gang. Too bad I had to see your ratchet faces once more." A large portal of darkness suddenly opened in the air.

"No... that's impossible...!" Riku said, getting tense. "How in this world can...?"

A mechanical beast resembling a dragon came out. And on the top of it... was the one thief I never thought I would have to lay eyes on again.

"Le Paradox."

 **End Chapter**


	12. Sly: One of Who?

**Chapter 9: One of Who?**

My vision almost went red the second I saw that skunk.

He couldn't get out unless he had assistance. But from who?

That thought continued to rush through my mind as soon as I took one look on that smug face of his.

"Well, well, if it isn't the little band of thieves known as the Cooper Gang! Did you really think you've seen the last of me after so long?" Le Paradox gloated.

"There's no way you could've escaped that prison cell without help, you fleabag!" Carmelita was quick to snap. "Not even your stink could get out!"

"Ha! That cell couldn't hold an infamous thief as myself."

"Yeah, infamous for your idiocy!" I shouted.

"And who are these cubs with you?" His smug look completely dropped and I almost thought his eyes would pop out as he leaned forward in that machine. "What?! How do-?!"

"How did you get through the darkness?" Riku demanded. He seemed to have an idea on how Le Paradox had escaped. But then, the skunk scowled.

"So you're those annoying Keyblade wielders! How did you get here?"

"And how do you know about the Keyblade?" Sora yelled, obviously like everyone shocked to hear the windbag's knowledge on the weapon in question. There was no way he could know about the Keyblade without someone telling him. Could it had been his accomplice?

This situation just keeps getting crazier.

"Well, thankfully for you, I happen to feel a bit generous at the moment," Le Paradox said. "To keep things simple, let's just say a bit of an associate of mine gave me the full details about what you are and what those Keyblades are capable of."

"What are you talking about?! What associate?!" Kairi yelled.

"Ah, not giving anything away this time, redhead. Just need to crush Cooper so I can have full control over our pathetic little world and then the next world!"

"He knows about other worlds...?!" Penelope said with her tone showing horror. The situation felt seeming to get worse.

"But how?" Le Paradox growled, glaring directly at me. "How do _you_ have a Keyblade, Cooper?"

"I'm not telling you anything," I told he weasel.

"You couldn't be...! Not you, Cooper!" Le Paradox jumped into some seat on the machine and he was controlling it somehow. The robot swung its arm down and we on the roof barely dodged.

The mystery of how I have a Keyblade will take some more time to solve.

But that was something that all of us would have to save for later. Instead, our main focus is taking out Le Paradox. There was no way we were going to get anywhere close to the Keyhole as long as he was here.

"You guys distract Le Paradox while me and Penelope try to disable that rust bucket!" Bentley said. I thhought I heard a sadistic tone in his voice. Probably from seeing that contraption. No room to complain.

"Roger, Bentley!" Everyone charged towards the machine. The arms were quick and it a bit of a challenge to avoid getting smacked.

I said, "I don't know how long this will take, but let's try and stay alive."

"You can say that again, Sly!" Sora shouted as he manages to barely dodge one of the robot's arms.

"I'll crush every last one of you like the insignificant little bugs that you are!" Le Paradox shouted from the mechanical beast he was piloting.

"You'll have to catch us first, you putrid-smelling weasel!" Carmelita shouted back in response.

That's my Carmelita. I found an opening to the pilot seat when an arm got stuck in the ground. I jumped on and ran up the metal to confront that skunk.

"Give it up, Le Paradox! Your plot ends here! One step ahead!"

"Damn you, Cooper! You couldn't die that night, could you?!"

"No, because I always have friends I can count on. That's something you don't have."

"Oh no? Then, try this!" Le Paradox jumped out of the pilot seat, the machine now on autopilot, and pulled out his sword. Felt like it wouldn't be much different from our last confrontation. But then something I didn't expect happened. Heartless appeared on the platform as well.

"Wait. _You_ brought the Heartless here?"

"Let's just say my associate lent a few to me."

"You nimrod! Don't you know these will destroy this world?!"

"Exactly why these will help me take over our mudball! Once this planet is under my control, I will travel through the cosmos and take every world into the palm of my hand!"

Time in that jail cell must've made this guy go nuts.

"Not going to happen, windbag!" I charged at Le Paradox.

I didn't think I'd be doing this again. I didn't even think I'd see him again. But here we were.

Especially now that he has a few "friends" assisting him this time around.

"En garde, Cooper!" Le Paradox yelled as he charged in my direction, the assisting Heartless doing the same thing.

And so began a repeat of the duel Le Paradox and I had the night I was sent all the way back in time. My main priority was, unsurprisingly, the maniacal crook himself. However, I also had to be aware of the Heartless that were joining in on the fight.

A few did jump at me and I took a split second to swat them away.

"Take this!" Le Paradox thrusted forward and I barely dodged.

The Heartless made it harder than last time though.

"What's wrong, Cooper? Is there too much for you to handle already?" Le Paradox mocked with a smug smirk.

You have no idea how badly I wanted to wipe that overconfident expression off of his face.

I quickly swung the Heartless away and blocked his attack. At the corner of my eye, a Heartless came from the side. My hand holding my Keyblade jerked when it almost made contact. Its claws got caught on my glove and it ripped, leaving that strange mark bare.

"Too close for comfort..."

"Cooper-!" Le Paradox caught me off guard and his sword slid into the guard and knocked it away. Not good!

The Heartless jumped me from behind and I was pinned to the metal floor.

"Le Paradox, you coward!"

"Sly!" I heard Sora call. The weasel approached me with a glare on his face. He knelt down and gripped my wrist tightly.

"How can this be...?! How can you be one of them?!" he yelled in total fury. I would've replied in some snarky joke, but his question confused me. 'One of them?' One of who?

I don't know what's going on with the mark, but it must be important.

"What exactly are you even talking about?! In fact, WHO are you even talking about?!" I yelled. This was just getting more and more confusing as time went on. And needless to say, Le Paradox did not take that question lightly.

All he did was growl in anger and back off. Suddenly, the Heartless vanished into thin air. "Huh?"

"You are SUPER lucky, Cooper," he snarled. "As long as you bear that mark upon your hand, I am not permitted to lay a hair on you myself."

"I may not know what's going on here, but OK."

"Don't act so casually about me sparing you this time," he said with a scowl. "You have no idea how important that mark on your hand is."

"How do you know what exactly this thing is? And why is it so important to the point where you can't kill me?" I asked. This was definitely something I wouldn't expect Le Paradox of all people to do.

"Like I have time wasting my breath having to explain every last detail to you," Le Paradox replied.

Suddenly, the robot began to spark and shake.

"Jump, Sly! That thing's going to collapse at any second!" Penelope called. Looked like they took off enough bolts on this bucket of bolts.

"See you on the ground!" And with that, I quickly jumped off before the collapse. That battle created more questions than answers, and the answers feel like they're a ways off.

"Don't think you've escaped me that easily, Cooper!" Le Paradox shouted from the collapsing robot. "Mark my words, this isn't the last you'll be seeing of me! I'll get you and your pathetic friends soon enough!"

A dark vortex suddenly opened and I saw his pungent odored tail flick before disappearing. The last of the robot came apart and crashed to the streets.

"Sly, let's go get that Keyole!" Sora called, heading to the tower. I quickly followed along with the other Keyblade wielders. I was impressed by their jumping abilities as I climbed after them. Before we knew it, we were at the top of the tower. Right there at the tip was a hole in the sky.

"Is that it?" I asked to make sure.

"That's the Keyhole," King Mickey confirmed. He seemed to nod to Sora and he in return nodded back before pointing his Keyblade at the hole.

"Hmm?" He lowered his weapon with confusion. "I don't feel anything."

"You mean you can't close it?" My heart nearly dropped to the pit of my stomach.

"Nothing is happening," Kairi said.

"Everything okay up there, Sly?" Bentley called on the earpiece.

"Not really. The Keyblades aren't-"

"Sly, you try," Riku suggested. I stopped in surprise.

"Me?"

I was unsure if I could do it, but I decided to at least give it a try. "I'm not sure if this will work, but since I don't see many other options, I'll give it a go. Could you show me how you usually do this, Sora?"

"Sure thing, Sly!" Sora said with an optomistic smile. "It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. First, you just need to summon your Keyblade and then point it directly at the Keyhole."

I did as Sora instructed me to do and proceeded to summon my Keyblade, making sure to point it right in the Keyhole's direction afterwards.

I felt some kind of spark in my hand, like an electronic being plugged in. I focused on that spark and it grew into this tingle of power. In a laser, a beam of white light shot out of the tip of my Keyblade and into the Keyhole. The sound of a lock rang softly in my ears before the Keyhole disappeared.

"It worked."

"It may be because we're not from this set of worlds," the king theorized. "That's why only Sly's Keyblade reacted."

I asked, "So, what now? Is my home safe now?"

"Well, just because the Keyhole's been locked doesn't necessarily mean the Heartless won't stop coming here," Sora explained. "But don't worry. Now that the Keyhole for your world's been locked, that'll prevent the Heartless from destroying it."

I let out a sigh of relief. Thank the stars that my world is for the most part safe. Only problem was that the Heartless would still be around.

"I'm still not sure how I can use a Keyblade at all. Do any of you have ideas about how I can use one?"

"Don't worry, Sly," Sora told me with a reassuring smile on his face. "If you have any questions on how to use a Keyblade properly, we'll all be happy to help you out."

"Sora's right," Kairi said. "Don't hesitate to ask any of us for advice. We'll try our best to teach you as much as we can."

All I could do was nod in thanks. They did know what they're doing.

"Sly, what's this mark?" King Mickey asked. I again looked at the white mark on my hand.

"I don't know what it is. I never saw it before in my life and I definitely wasn't born with it."

"It's an interesting design," Kairi commented.

"Le Paradox did say as I was fighting him that wasn't permitted to hurt me as long as I have that mark, and when he first saw it he just backed off, which isn't like him."

"We don't really know your backstory with that guy, but judging on you said, that does actually sound pretty weird," Sora commented.

The others nodded in agreement. They didn't have to say anything to make it clear that none of them knew what exactly the mark was or what its importance was. The real question was: how did Le Paradox out of everyone we've encountered possibly know what the thing was.

"Let's check in with your friends," Riki said. We all silently agreed and slide down the side of the tower.

"Sly, you wouldn't believe how high tech this mech is!" Bentley exclaimed, almost sounding like a child with the latest smartphone. "I've never seen anything like it!"

If this is something Bentley's never delt with before, then I wouldn't be surprised after everything that's happened with Sora."You're sure that this something neither you or Penelope have ever seen before, Bentley?" I asked.

"I'm positive, Sly! We both worked with high technology in the past, but we've never seen anything like this!" Bentley said excitedly.

"What exactly makes it so much more different?"

"Well, the power supply is impressive," Penelope stated, looking at what appeared to be an engine. "It runs on a form of energy we've never seen before."

"The programming on this was definitely made by a professional and the alloy the bot is made of is a near indestructible metal not found on Earth!" Bentley added.

Who could have made this? I said, "I don't think anybody I've faced would know how to make this if the metal wasn't found on Earth. "What do you think, Sora? Are any of your foes smart enough to make this?"

Sora thought for a little bit. Although, I think I might've already came to a conclusion almost immediately I asked him that question.

"Nope, none that I can think of," Sora said.

Somehow, I knew he was going to say that. And that only brings up more questions rather than answers.

"Damn, that skunk. He's just made things more confusing. Just more questions than answers."

"If Le Paradox could control those Heartless things, what does that mean?" Murray asked.

"It means that it isn't just Earth that is in trouble," Mickey said, putting it together.

"But how will we know where they will strike next? From the sounds of it Le Paradox seems to be tracking me and some other people, but we don't know who those people are."

"That is actually a very good question, now that you mention it, Sly."

That was definitely not good to hear. If we couldn't find out who these other people that Le Paradox mentioned were and where they're currently located, then who knows how long we have until the Heartless use the opportunity to locate the Keyhole and destroy those worlds.

"Sounds like another adventure," Sora stated, crossing his arms behind his head with a casual aura. I had a tingle in my tail that said that I agreed.

"And another theft to plan then."

"Hmm... you two may be on to something," the king said. "I say we ally with each other for as long as Le Paradox and his associates threaten the worlds."

"Align ourselves with a king?" Bentley asked. "Almost sounds like mercenary work."

"Bentley, after everything that happened, we can trust them and, besides, how else will we get to other worlds?" I reminded.

"I suppose I can't argue with that," Bentley said in response.

"So we know what we have to do, but does anybody have an idea of where to start the search?"

"That's a very good point," Riku commented.

"I agree," King Mickey added. "Unless we can get a clear image on where we're supposed to go to next, we'll all just end up getting lost in the process."

A dead end already. That never set well in my stomach. My finger tapped impatiently in the hold on my cane.

"Maybe we should think this over at the hideout," Penelope suggested. "It's almost dawn." Shoot! The time! People will be coming out very soon!

"Right, a gang of thieves isn't very welcomed at daytime." I could only deadpan at Riku because he just had to say that.

"Then let's get going so we can have some time to figure out our next move."

"That definitely sounds like a good idea, especially at this time," Carmelita commented.

"Well, we don't have much time, you guys. Let's hurry."

And so, we proceeded to start making our way back to the hideout.

 **End Chapter**


	13. Sly: Tailless Forms

Chapter 10: Tailless Forms

The trip back to our hideout was short. Le Paradox's appearance, my mark bearing some kind of importance, my Keyblade, just none of this was making sense.

"I believe in order to understand what the Heartless are controlled by as a whole, we need to go to the source," Bentley analyzed.

"But there's also the concern with this mark," Penelope pointed out as she examined the mark on my hand. I had made sure to show the gang after Le Paradox said how important it was. "I've never seen this kind of design or symbol in any ancient studies."

"And it wasn't there before?" Riku asked. I shook my head to the human-turn-snow leopard.

"Wasn't born with it. But it keeps stinging or slightly burning time to time."

"Stinging or burning?" Penelope muttered, apparently doing an x-ray scan with one of her and Bentley's more complicated devices. "Now that's unusual."

"Maybe Ansem has seen this symbol before," King Mickey suggested.

I said, "Do you think he could tell us something about it? To figure out what it means, we'll need some help."

"I'm sure he'll do the best he can to help us out with this, Sly," King Mickey answered.

"However, the answers that we do get completely depends on if he has any knowledge on what that symbol is," Riku added.

He did make a good point about that. We could be in a bit of a bind if Ansem doesn't actually know what exactly the symbol was.

But it was worth a shot.

"Does that mean we get to see your worlds?" Murray asked, obviously excited.

"If that's alright with Sly here," the king said. My answer's a no brainer.

"I'm not leaving my team here. I definitely want them to come with us."

I said to the rest of the Cooper Gang, "I feel like you are going to love seeing Sora's worlds for the first time, team. When I first arrived, I thought they were beautiful."

"It would be very interesting to see where Sora and his friends come from," Carmelita said.

"I agree," Bentley replied. "I mean, after what just happened here, it did heighten my sense of curiosity about these other worlds in question."

"That was easy to decide, but will everyone fit?" Donald questioned.

"Our current is much larger than ones the three of you used. So space shouldn't be an issue."

"Is there room for a van?" Murray asked. Aw yes, couldn't forget about his prized van.

"A van?" Goofy repeated.

"Our signature van," I explained. "Murray almost never goes anywhere without it."

When the van was floating away on a block of ice in Canada, Murray was very unhappy. He really loves that van.

Thankfully, we did manage to retrieve it much later when we were in China. But considering how long Murray was away from it during that time, I can't be surprised that he asked if we could bring it along with him.

"Well, considering the fact that the Gummi Ship we're currently using is big enough to fit all of us inside of it, it might also be big enough to possibly fit a van," King Mickey said.

"Oh, thank you, your Majesty! Thank you! My van is always open for you!" The king chuckled and gave a smile.

"Guess that settles it," Riku commented. "We better get going." He looked to me and Sora for a moment. For what?

"Sly." Sora held up his Chaos Emerald. Oh, right. The only way to get back to Sora's worlds.

I explained to the rest of the Cooper Gang, "Remember the white jewel? I used the power inside and my Keyblade to get back home. Sora has a similar jewel that we can use to get to his worlds."

"Well, considering what has happened so far, I'm actually not that surprised about that jewel having some sort of importance," Penelope said.

"We don't have any time to waste," Riku then said. "Let's get this show on the road."

I nodded and proceed to take out my Chaos Emerald from my pouch.

Just like before, mine and Sora's Chaos Emeralds reacted and floated. We repeated the duo Chaos Emeralds. It didn't look like anything happened, but I guessed that's a good thing to not attract attention.

"Hang on, everyone!" Donald told everyone as he did his magic.

Just how does everything connect? My Keyblade, the mark, the broken barriers... Hopefully Ansem can help us out.

found ourselves now standing in the Gummi Ship, the van having been transported as well. Unsurprisingly, my gang was the most surprised about their new surroundings and was looking around the interior of the ship with amazed expressions on their faces.

"Can we... maybe have blueprint copies, your Majesty?" Bentley asked, trying to keep his jaw from falling to the ground in his geek moment. "This is just so incredible!"

"Oh wow, these would make amazing additions to the van!" Penelope squealed, looking over the control bay. I couldn't blame either of them.

"You two have tinkered with my van more times than I can count!" Murray somewhat complained.

"I see you two are quite the mechanics," the king mused. "If you would like, you may also learn how to wire the ship should we have a malfunction on our quest."

"May we?!" Bentley looked like he was heading to nerd heaven.

I know these two well, but isn't this reaction a little excessive?

The king didn't seem to mind, however, as he gave a simple chuckle of amusement in response to their reaction.

"Of course," The king said. "After all, seeing how skilled in technology you two are, I'm something like the ship malfunction should be nothing for you."

"You can count on us if that ever happened," Penelope said with a smile on her face.

That's a relief.

"Is that the... wormhole?" Carmelita asked, seeing the vortex.

"Pretty much."

"Here we go!" Sora announced. The Gummi Ship shot forward and in a few seconds, we were already back in... I was positive this was one of Sora's worlds. It showed a large town, maybe built on a mountain with how it curved with a lot of slopes. The largest feature was a clock tower and a gorgeous sunset.

"Whoops, we were a bit off," Donald stated.

"Hey, it's Twilight Town," Goofy pointed out.

I was fine with not going to the right place. It gave me a chance to see even more of Sora's worlds.

Of course, I couldn't help but wonder about this Twilight Town place we accidentally found ourselves at.

"Do you guys think you can tell us more about this Twilight Town, if you don't mind?" I asked with consideration.

"Very important friends of ours live there," Kairi explained. "And Lea and his three friends like going there as well."

I responded with, "I take it you're been there a lot then?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Sora said simply.

"We would tell you all about the countless times we've been there, but right now our main objective is to return to Radiant Garden," Riku reminded.

He does have a point about that. While it would be nice to see Twilight Town in person, we have do have a more important mission that we need to take care of before it's too late.

"Um, excuse me, but is that normal?" Murray called out. He was pointing to some kind of shadow in the distance. I wasn't sure what it was, but from my own experiences, that was not normal.

"No. What is that?" Sora wondered.

I said, "I haven't seen that before, but I have a feeling it isn't harmless."

"You can definitely say that again," Kairi replied. "I have a bad feeling about whatever that thing is."

"What exactly should we do in this situation?" Carmelita asked with a hint of caution in her voice.

"It's heading to Twilight Town from how its direction is," Riku warned. "Looks like we're going there after all."

Looked like we were going to take a detour on our way back to Radiant Garden.

"But won't the Cooper Gang stick out?" Goofy questioned. "I mean, the folks were fine with me, Donald and King Mickey, but what about a whole group of animals?"

"Hmm, you do have a point, Goofy," the king pondered. He then looked to the magician of the group. "Donald, I think your assistance will be needed."

"Sure thing, Your Majesty!" Donald quacked confidently.

Since I met Sora, I hadn't really thought about me becoming a human.

I mean, I'm assuming that Donald's going to turn us into humans like Sora, anyway.

"Alright, everyone, this'll be very quick, so stand still and get ready!" Donald said as he looked in the direction of my gang and I.

Nothing had happened yet, but I was quickly averting my gaze in preparing for a weird transformation. There was a flash of sparkles and light and suddenly, my legs nearly crippled beneath me. I felt a lack of weight on my whole body and my senses had just gone numb for a bit.

"Take it easy there," I heard a muffled voice. My vision cleared a bit to see Sora helping me stay on my feet. "I know how you feel. It's a little funny on the first time."

Skin. My body was... bare of hair except tiny hairs that probably couldn't be seen from far away. I couldn't help but feel over my face in curiosity. My muzzle was flatter, my ears smaller and my mask was starting to sag.

"So this is..."

"What you look like as a human."

"This... is going to take some getting used to. At least I can blend in easier when I'm visiting your worlds, Sora."

"That's true," Sora simply said with a smile on his face.

"If this is what I look like as a human, then I wonder what my gang looks-" I said before pausing in surprise as soon as looked over at the other members of my gang. And needlessly to say, their expressions were just as surprised as mine was.

Bentley looked as nerdy as ever, Murray actually looked just a tinge slimmer than he really was, with a pair of pale blue jeans to my surprise, Penelope was taller by say a centimeter, and Carmelita... My wife was still as gorgeous as she was as a fox. Oh, where do I begin...?

"Not looking bad yourself, rightail," she chuckled, catching my stare. Curse having no face on myface now because I could feel my cheeks warming up.

"I shouldn't be surprised given everything that's happened recently, but I don't know what to say."

"I suppose that's quite understanable," Bentley said as he looked over his new human form that he was given.

"So, this is what it feels like to be a human," the now human Penelope said. She did look very surprised about her new appearance, just like everyone else did. I couldn't really blame them for feeling that way, though.

"Sly and I are even wearing pants!" Murray exclaimed. I couldn't help but feel the dark grey fabric now held up by my belt and tucked into my boots when he said that. Wait, did my shoe size also shrink?

It took a few minutes, but the gang and I were able to get our bearings and stood on our own feet.

"Okay, now that everyone is up to speed in their new forms, we should be going before that shadow causes panic," the king said.

I said, "Then let's go after it. I don't want it to cause too much damage."

"Got it," Sora said. "Off to Twilight Town we go, everyone! You know what to do, Donald?"

"I'm on it, Sora!" Donald said as he then held up his staff before waving it. In a few seconds, everyone's vision were then blinded by a bright light that engulfed the entirety of the Gummi Ship's interior.

Next thing I knew, we were in a town basked in a beautiful twilight orange. Guess that's why the town was called "Twilight Town". Fitting and beautiful name.

"So, who is ready to go after that shadow? You can show me around this place while we're looking, Sora."

"You can bet that we're all ready to hunt down whatever that shadow was!" Sora said enthusiastically as everyone else nodded in agreement. "And this'll be the perfect way to give you and your gang a tour of Twilight Town! I'm sure you guys are gonna love it here!"

"I have to agree," Kairi said. "There are quite a bunch of interesting sights around town and I'm sure you'll get along with the locals here."

"As long as you keep your hands to yourself," Donald said, looking straight at me. Looked like I needed to earn more of this guy's trust. As well as Riku's.

 **End Chapter**


	14. Sly: The Town Basked in Twilight

Chapter 11: The Town Basked in Twilight

It hasn't even been that long since we all arrived at Twilight Town and I can already say this. This whole place certainly is a beautiful place to reside in. The architecture, the sky basking in the grogerous twilight light created by the setting sun... Honestly, if it was possible, I'd definitely like to spend a vacation here one day.

To know that a dark force was here was almost unbelievable.

"Let's begin the search with the local friends," Sora suggested.

"Hayner and the gang would know if there was anything yet," Goofy added.

"I assume Hayner and his friends are residents of this world?" Bentley questioned.

You bet they are," Kairi said. "They're all really nice people, so I'm sure all of you guys will get along great with them."

"Where exactly do you think we'll find them?" I asked.

"They have a bit of a hideout of sorts where they usually hang out at," Sora explained. "Hopefully, they're in there right now as we speak."

"Well, it's worth a shot at least," Carmelita said.

As we made out way to the hideout where Hayner and his friends were usually at, I couldn't help but look around in amazement by our new surroundings.

"Wow! I don't even know what to say about this place! Do you come here often, Sora?

"You bet," Sora said with a smile. "In fact, all of us have been here plenty of times in the past!"

They should be at their spot," Kairi pointed out. "Let's go."

My gang and I followed the others through town. I couldn't help but run my fingers over my bare skin, still bewildered about my new form. Yeah, it would still take time to get used to this.

"Hey, you," a rough voice called out. I turned to see a guy with a black beanie with a dark skinned, kind of muscular kid and a silver haired girl. With them was... Was that a Heartless dressed like a ragdoll with a witch hat?

"You think you can go parading through my town?" The beanie kid called out.

"No, we're here to remove a threat," I stated simply.

"Back off, Seifer," Sora stated.

Seifer, huh? So, that's what that guy's name is. And from the looks on the faces of Sora and his friends, it was clear that they all knew who these three were pretty well.

"Do you guys happen to know who they are?" I asked.

"All too well," Riku said simply.

Oh. So you brought them here," Seifer deadpanned.

"They're friends," Kairi pointed out.

"We might as well ask if you've seen something strange around here," Sora said.

"Do you remember seeing a black shadow? It could be a problem if we don't track it down."

"A black shadow," Seifer simply said with an obvious tone of nonbelief in his voice. "And why would any of us know anything about that being here?"

Sheesh, it hasn't even been that long since we met these four and already I was not liking their leader's attitude. I'm assuming Seifer was their leader, anyway.

"You better talk," Carmelita demanded, already losing her patience. Frankly, the same was for me.

"A shadow was heading towards Twilight Town, that's why," the king explained.

"Shadow?" the strange creature questioned.

I said, "I don't even want to think about what that shadow could possibly do, but we think it could cause some problems."

Well, don't bother asking us for any information," Seifer said coldly. "Trust me when I say this. We know nothing about some shadow being around a place like this."

Well, that certainly didn't help us at all. And while I didn't want to admit it, it looked pretty clear that they honestly didn't know anything about that shadow.

"Let's go," Riku said. "They're not worth it."

"Hold up," Seifer called. What now? "If it has to do with that Roxie... Rocks... whatever his name-"

"It's Roxas," Sora answered sternly. Sounded like this person was close to Sora. "And I doubt the shadow has anything to do with him, Naminé or Xion." More new people to meet. My head will begin to hurt.

"Fine. Don't say we didn't say so." Um, you did all of the talking, dimwit. Not that I would that or I would be just as bad as him. So we just walked away.

It took a bit of time, but Sora eventually led us to a cut up fence with a curtain.

"I think it would be better if only a few of us go in," he informed. "Hayner can be a bit on the rough side at first."

I asked Sora, "Who do you think would be best then? By the way, it sounds like a lot of people have a connection to you, and it's making my head hurt just thinking about it."

Sora gave a bit of a chuckle.

"Yeah, 'a lot' can be a bit of an understatement with all of us, to be honest," he said with a grin on his face. "But in terms of who goes in, I think you and I would be pretty good candidates for that."

"I think I can agree with that," Kairi said. "I mean, you are pretty good with Hayner and his friends, Sora. Plus, I think this'll be a good way for them to properly meet Sly."

"They also know you, Kairi. You should come too."

"Okay." That was settled quickly. So the three of us headed behind the curtain to a decent hideout space for kids. Inside were three people and three more...

Huh? Was I seeing double Sora's and triple Kairi's?

"Sora, Kairi," the blonde with a bit of a punkish look greeted.

"Hey, it's been a while," the dark haired boy called.

"I thought you guys would be here," Sora commented with a grin towards the windswept blonde.

"Who's with you?" the brunette girl in orange asked.

"This is Sly," Kairi explained. "He's our new friend."

More introductions to friends of Sora... I wonder how many more times I'll have to go through this.

"So, his name is Sly, huh?" The blonde girl that resembled Kairi said with a kind smile on her face. "That's a very interesting one. I don't think I've ever met someone with that name before until now."

"Yes, I agree," the girl with black hair said before looking in my direction. "It's very nice to meet you, Sly."

"Um, same to you," I greeted, still stunned by the lookalikes.

"I'm Pence," the black haired boy greeted.

"Hayner. Nice to meet you," the punk said.

"My name's Olette," the girl in orange greeted.

"And we're Roxas, Naminé and Xion," the dirty blonde added.

"And, well..." Sora smiled smiled nrvously at me, probably because I looked confused. "You could say Roxas is my twin and Naminé and Xion are Kairi's."

"'You could say'? Is this part of the long story?" I questioned.

Sora said, "It makes it even longer. But I knew when I started telling you my story that these three would have to be brought up."

I guess I could understand that. I mean, with everything that just happened prior to us coming here, I almost immediately knew Sora's story would definitely be a long one. I would ask for more details, but right now, that's not our main objective.

"So, what exactly brings you guys to Twilight Town?" Olette asked.

"We saw something head towards town and thought you would know something," Sora said. "A shadow?"

"We haven't seen something like that yet," Hayner pointed out.

"But..." Xion began, thinking it over. "I thought I saw something... out of the ordinary."

"Out of the ordinary?" Kairi repeated.

"Like, the figure was... humanoid, but its shadow was... skeletal. With a cone like head." She motioned with her hands over her head to emphasize the shape. "I first thought it was a trick with the light so I ignored it."

"That's a new one."

What could this shadow be? If it's new to Sora's group, then I feel like we aren't close to an answer to that question.

"A humanoid figure with a skeletal shadow and a cone-like head..." Sora recapped.

"If that's nothing something that's highly ominous, then I don't know what is," Kairi commented.

I could've sworn I felt a small chill go through my body. Of course, I guess that's something to be expected when dealing with this mysterious shadow, especially now that we have a bit of a clue as to what it at least looks like.

"Where did you see that?" Sora asked.

"Around the sandlot."

"We better go see."

"In that case, we'll come along," Roxas proclaimed, standing up. Naminé and Xion followed.

"They wield the Keyblade too," Kairi pointed out.

"The more the merrier," I commented.

What will we find when we get there? Hopefully not too much destruction. If we find destruction, I really don't want it on the level of Clock-la.

"Well then, everyone, let's not keep everyone else outside waiting!" Sora exclaimed.

"Oh, you brought the others with you here too?" Naminé asked.

"Yeah, we did," Kairi said in response.

Along with Sly's friends."

"They're more of a family to me," I couldn't help but add.

"Okay then."

"Good luck, you guys!" Pence cheered us on. Olette and Hayner waved. Then, we started to come out of the space to the others.

"Am I seeing twins and triplets?" Bentley asked, surprised as he fixed his glasses to be sure. The girls giggled while the twins looked a bit sheepish.

"Sort of," Sora replied.

"Either you are or not," Penelope commented.

"Trust me Bentley, I thought the same thing when I first saw them. I'll get the details later. We have an update on the shadow though."

"An update?" Carmelita repeated.

"Well, to start off, according to our friend, Xion, here, apparently there's another shadow roaming around here," Kairi explained. "One that's completely different from the one we saw before we came here, at least in terms of shape."

"Intriguing," Bentley said. "What exactly did this other shadow look like?"

"From what we learned, this shadow looked more humanoid and had a more cone-shaped head."

Never heard of such a thing," Bentley quickly denied calmly. "And I suppose one of you is Xion." The black haired girl raised her hand before putting it down. "Nice to meet you."

"She saw it around the sandlot."

Bentley replied with, "I don't know what this shadow is capable of, but we should get going, before it causes too much damage."

"Yes, that does seem like our best option for this situation," Penelope said. "Where is this sandlot, by the way?"

"It's not that far from here," Roxas said. "We'd be happy to lead all of you there, if you want."

"That would be most appreciated," Carmelita said with a smile.

We all followed without a word. After passing a few interesting shops, we had reached a clear square with a scoreboard.

"Around here?" I asked.

"Yeah, by the alley," Xion replied.

As we were walking, the shadow Xion saw didn't leave my mind. Who or what could it be? Ever since I met Sora, so many crazy things have happened, and I don't think the craziness will stop anytime soon.

In not that short amount of time, we approached the alley that Xion allegedly saw the shadow. Of course, we didn't immediately find anything out of the ordinary once we investigated it.

"You're sure that you did see the shadow by this alley in particular?" Bentley asked.

"Yes, of course," Xion said. "Although... Considering that there's nothing here anymore, I guess it really must've been some sort of trick with the light I saw earlier."

"No, I don't think it was some sort of illusion," Riku commented. "Something is up."

"Like that?" Murray pointed to the sky. All of us followed and gasped in surprise when the massive shadow we saw from space now in view.

"I have to say, I didn't expect to see this. Do you feel the same way, Sora?"

"Definitely, Sly," Sora simply said.

Staring at the shadow in question was highly unbelievable. It definitely was not the shadow Xion said she saw earlier. This was something a lot more menecing than the one that she described. Something that clearly shows an interesting in harming this whole world.

Something that would show no hesitation in obliterating anything that even thought about standing in its way.

"EEEE-!" someone screamed before it was suddenly cut off.

 _"Lance, what has brought you to curse the whole town?"_ a woman's voice lamented. It sounded like a bad soap opera was playing.

"What was that?" Donald questioned.

"Sounded like it's on the other side of the alley."

I said, "Then let's go see what that was. Now I'm really interested."

"I have a bad feeling about this, but it looks like we don't have much of a choice in this situation," the king said. "Let's be on guard, everyone."

We all nodded and proceeded to go down the alley, making sure to keep our guard up in case anything went south the moment we reached the other side.

We krept slowly... silently... and on the end...

... ... What? Is this supposed to be ominous... or a total joke?

It's a robot... with a cone like head... skeletal-like body... and it's playing a bad soap opera?

 **End Chapter**


	15. Sly: A Not-So-Nefarious Menace?

**Chapter 12: A Not-So-Nefarious Menace?**

... Just what was that in front of us? I could just feel the blank expressions of everyone else.

We all just stared at the robot in silence, highly confused as to what exactly we were witnessing before us.

"Uh, guys?" Sora finally asked. "I'm not the only one here that sees this, right?"

"Trust me, Sora, it's literally clear as day to all of us that this is actually not something only you're seeing," I said in response.

What is this thing? And why was it playing a bad soap opera? I have so many questions.

"Oh, come on, why at a time like this?" a gravelly voice complained. A strange, pretty overwight human in reds, yellows and blacks and with a ridiclous, orange mustache marched up to the robot thing with annoyance. He didn't seem to notice us yet. Suddenly, the guy slapped the robot.

"-GMAAAAAN!" the robot screamed. All of us cringed. Ouch. My ears.

"Ah-! That was unpleasant," Bentley commented, shaking his head.

"What do you expect me to do?" the fat human questioned. "I built that dark-emission device to cloak the ship. Do you expect us to be immediately spotted by worlds we shouldn't bother with?"

"What do you think?!" the robot screamed at the human. "All worlds in the entire universe should know that my prescence is near! In fact, every last organic lifeform living on these planets should simply cower in fear the moment they laid their eyes on my ship! Why did you think I was insisting we keep that cloaking device off?!"

Okay, this was just getting more and more confusing as time went on. Just who exactly are these two anyway?

I said, "Does anybody have any ideas about what to do in this situation? We need more information."

"This is beyond bizarre," Riku admitted. "But it looks like we found the ones that brought that shadow."

"But what's this about a ship they're talking about?" Penelope wondered.

"Well, I'm going to assume that this ship of their's could possibly be that shadow we saw in space before we officially landed," Bentley theorized. "You know, when its cloaking device was still activated at the time."

I mean, considering how big that shadow we saw out there was, I'm not surprised that Bentley would make that assumption. Honestly, it made sense to me, anyway.

I said, "I'm wondering just how big of a threat these two are. But I think we will find out the answer to that question soon."

"I don't know, they barely seem like a threat," Murray murmured. I couldn't help but agree. These two were more like clowns than possible threats.

Then, the human spotted us.

"Heh? Who's there?"

"Us, of course!" Sora announced.

"What business do you have in this world?" the king questioned.

"Oh, would the mouse like to know." Ouch. If that were me, that'd be a stab to my pride.

"I gave you a question."

"What do you think we're here to do?" The robot asked, clearly with an annoyed tone in his voice. "We, especially yours truly, are here to teach squishies such as you who the real dominant species of the entire universe are!"

"Uh, I'm sorry, squishies?" I asked. That was definitely a weird term I've never heard before.

"As in organic lifeforms, like you people! That's exactly what I'm talking about! Though, I'm not surprised squishies like you wouldn't understand a single word I'm saying in those pea-sized brains of yours."

So it seems like the robot dislikes organic lifeforms, and that is bad news. Again, just how big of a threat is this robot?

"We're trying to conquer life forms, not destroy them!" The fatso reminded the mech. "Why are you so metal-headed?"

"Uh, if you're here for trouble, can we just fight now?" Roxas deadpanned. I had to agree. This was getting boring and harder to watch.

"Wait, you actually want to fight now?" The robot asked in a surprised tone. "But I had this whole speech on how easy it'll be to take over this planet prepared and everything! You squishes are actually not even going to let me have my special monolouge I worked so hard on?"

Now I'm starting to question if these two really are a threat. So far, other than wanting to conquer "squishes", they're failing to prove that to us.

"Can't you at least tell us who you two are?" Kairi asked, clearly getting annoyed by what's happening before our eyes. Can't say I blame her, really.

"Oh, right, I nearly forgot about that," The eccentric robot said. "You're talking to the one and only Dr. Nefarious! Leader of all machine lifeforms and conquerer of squishes like you little ants!"

I asked the human, "And who are you? Out of all the humans I've met recently, you stand out."

"Glad you asked. I am the famous Dr. Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik! Greatest scientist of robotics, inventor of the greatest technology the world's have ever seen and future ruler of the universe!"

A few of us, including myself, had to hold in our laughter.

"Eggman?" Wonder How he got that nickname.

"I think you two are contradicting each other," Bentley commented skeptically.

"Don't listen to this numbskull squishie," Nefarious spouted. "I'm more intelligent than he is."

"I have an IQ of over 300, thank you very much!"

"Please, like that even rivals with my more than superior IQ! It just goes to show how much more superior we machine life forms are in comparison to you!"

"I dare you to say those words to me again!"

Okay, are these two seriously the ones we were worried about the whole time? They're bickering with each other like they're some sort of angry couple or something.

I don't know what to think about these two. If they are really a threat, they they should show us why we should be worried.

So Carmelita shot a shock bullet. That got their attention.

"Should we be worried?" she asked, completely unimpressed.

Well, you should be!" Eggman exclaimed. "None of you imbecels can possibly know just how much of a threat you're in the prescence of!"

I don't know whether to chuckle in amusement or just stare at him in bewilderment. A threat? Yeah, after what we just witnessed from them, I highly doubt a "threat" in an appropriate term for these two. And it's pretty much safe to say everyone else was thinking the exact same thing as I was, based on the looks on their faces.

Oh, let's just get these meddlers out of our faces!" Eggman proclaimed.

"Best idea you've had all day! LAWREEEEENCE!" Ow, had to cover my ears again. "Disable cloakin device!"

In the next moment, there was a bright glow from the sky and a giant, menacing ship appeared. Okay, now that's more like it.

I asked everybody, "What's our next move? After seeing the ship, I somehow feel like these two may be right when they say they are a threat."

That's much better," Sora commented, more eager to fight.

"You ungrateful little squishies are going to regret not taking either of us seriously!" Nefarious exclaimed. "We're going to make sure you know your place by the time we're done with you!"

"We'd like to see you try that!" I said, getting ready to finally battle these jokers head-on.

"Please, it'll be easy enough to crush all of you like the little insignificant bugs you are!" Eggman said with an evil grin on his face.

I told Sora's group and the rest of the Cooper Gang, "Be careful. We don't know what these two are capable of when it comes to fighting."

"They don't look like much," Riku said. While the others brought out their Keyblades and weapons, I held up my cane. I didn't need another reaction like Le Paradox.

"The Keyblade wielders... Our most gracious friend filled us in about you," Eggman pointed out. Someone told them about the Keyblade too?

So, it wasn't just Le Paradox that was somehow informed about what the Keyblade is. Seriously, who's telling these guys about it?

"And who exactly is this 'most gracious friend' that told you about us?" Mickey asked with a clear tone of interrogation in his voice. Considering how they also knew about what the Keyblade is, it made sense for him to ask that question that I'm pretty sure was bubbling up in all of our minds.

I have no idea if we'll even get any more info. If we do, I have a feeling that they will be vague about who told them about the Keyblade. At the same time, maybe this conversation will actually lead to some important information?

Oh, just maybe one of the only squishies I can say I have an interest in helping," Nefarious answered. "A master of some of the darkest things even I knew existed. And thanks to them, I was able to assault my archnemeses on their very own ship. Heartless do come in handy."

"I guess that means you two are from a completely set of worlds from this system?" Bentley suspected.

"We can only say that we have a new army working for us thanks to our benefactor," the fat doctor replied. Suddenly, something fell from the ship above. It looked like a giant, beetle-like mech with a hatch near the head. What was weird was that... it looked similar in material to Le Paradox's mech.

It felt pretty omnious looking at the thing and getting reminded of the same mech Le Paradox used when we encountered him back in Paris. Honestly, I was getting so many flashbacks on that event and how easily that skunk was able to overpower me on that thing with the help of the Heartless.

"Don't act like we're not aware of those tense feelings you squishies are feeling right now!" Nefarious gloated. "I had a feeling that you would feel that way the moment you laid your eyes on this baby we have here!"

I said, "Let's try and stay calm this time. Bentley, since I'm getting flashbacks to Le Paradox's mech, do you think you can go and see how similar the two mechs are? Maybe we could take it down in a similar way."

"I was thinking the same thing, Sly."

"Sly?" Nefarious repeated, sounding a bit surprised. "There's no possible way. You're a human."

Did I hear that right?

"Wait. How do you know my name?"

"The skunk lost to a feeble mind like you?" They couldn't be...

"You know Le Paradox?"

"It IS you! How is that-"

"Must be that 'magic' talk our benefactor mentioned," the robot said. "Which means..."

"Looks like you will be coming with us, Cooper."

I subconsciously brought my free hand over the strange mark. I had a feeling they were refering to it.

"So you're aware of the mark on your hand. Not just anyone can have it."

"What do you know about the mark?" I demanded to know.

"Fine, I'll let you in on a little of it," Eggman decided. "That mark on your hand is the sign that you're one of the keys."

Keys. Of course it involved keys. But why was I one? And it's not just me with a mark?

"Just what exactly are you talking about?" I asked. "I'm a key to what exactly? And are you saying that there's more people out there that has a mark just like the one I have on my hand?"

"What else could we be saying? Of course you're not the only key out there! Why else would I have said that?"

"That only answers one of those two questions I asked you. What about the other one?"

I have so many questions, and they all seem to revolve around the mark. The situation is confusing, but at least I'm making progress towards getting answers. Now if only I could figure out what I'm a key to...

"You mean, 'other ones'." A hover seat came from the beetle mech and Eggman and Nefarious climbed on. "There's more than just two keys. So to ensure we can unlock the greatest world in the universe, you are coming with us!" The seat reconnected to the robot and it then buzzed to life.

"Get ready, guys!" Sora called out. We all got into our fighting stances.

So, you still want to resist coming along with us?" Nefarious asked. "I'm not surprised squishies such as you people would be so stubborn to talk some sense into!"

"In that case, we'll be more than happy to take you by force, even if we must crush you like the insignificant bugs you are!" Eggman exclaimed.

From the way this meeting started, I can honestly say that I didn't expect it to head in this direction. "Bentley, Penelope, you two go do your thing. The rest of us will keep you safe until the mech is down."

"Ten four." We quickly scattered, starting to surround the robot.

"Let's see you go against the Egg Beetle Mark I!"

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Egg Beetle?"

"Sly!" Murray called. I could read him like a book and ran towards him. He put his hands together and gave me a lift (aka, a toss) to one of the wings. I was able to lodge the hook of my cane into the socket connecting the wing to the bot and it caused the wing to malfunction. Just what I was aiming for.

"Nice move, Sly!" Penelope shouted. "If you can get the legs, this bug is down!"

"I'm on it, Penelope!" I shouted back in response.

"You don't know who you're messing with right now!" Nefarious shouted, clearly in anger over what I did to their mech. "Don't think for a second that we'll just let you cause any more damage to this thing!"

"Well, we'll just have to see about that, in that case!"

Note to self: if I see Nefarious again, and I probably will, don't make him too angry. I may not know him that well, but I can already tell that I don't like the guy.

A streak of lightning suddenly came crashing down on the bot, stunning it.

"Heh?!" Eggman grunted in surprise.

"Now's your chance!" I heard Donald. It mustve been him that cast that lightning spell. I noticed Sora and Riku ricocheting off of the walls and both of them dislodged arms completely. Wow, I gotta learn how to do that with my Keyblade.

"That should hold them off for a while!" Riku said.

"Now, Sly, don't hold anything back and land the finishing blow to these two!" Sora cheered.

"You got it, Sora! Here I go!"

It was time to finally end this mech that these two jokers were piloting. Without anything holding me back, I made my move to deal the final blow to the mech's legs.

At the same time, I couldn't help but wonder about the specifics of why Nefarious and Eggman wanted me to come with them. I heard something about "unlocking the greatest world in the universe." What could they mean by that?

Before I could even think more on it, I was piercing through two more legs.

"Huh...?"

"So it's true."

I came back down from the attack and I noticed I had summoned my own Keyblade. I wasn't even thinking of summoning it, though.

"Now that you have come in contact with the Keyblade wielder, you can wield one yourself," Eggman said. Not that they could say anymore before the robot crashed from lack of support.

It was obvious that we definitely managed to defeat those two. But instead of an urge to celebrate over this victory, I couldn't help but stare at my recently summoned Keyblade in surprise. Why was I suddenly holding it instead of my cane? How exactly did I summon it without even thinking about it? Thoughts similar to those ones continued to go through my head as I continued to look over my Keyblade.

I'll ask Sora for the specifics in a bit, but my best guess is that I might be gaining more control over summoning my Keyblade. Has anything like this happened to him or one of his friends?

"He has one too?" I heard Xion ask in surprise.

"We don't know why, but Sly can wield the Keyblade," Goofy answered.

"No, the egghead said it clearly," Riku objected. "Sora, you said that you met Sly in a dream, right?"

"Yes, that night of the meteor shower," Sora confirmed.

"That must be it. Your heart connected with Sly's."

"Which inadvertently passed the Keyblade to him," Kairi pieced together, with a tone of surprise.

"So my Keyblade... is from Sora?"

Sora responded with, "I think our strong connection is the key here. I feel like you are right about that, Sly."

"Well, if you think about it a little bit, it does actually make sense," Naminé said. And it was pretty obvious that everyone else was slowly, but surely, starting to reach the same conclusion.

As for me, I couldn't help but give a few blinks out of surprise. I mean, it did seem like the most logical explanation as to how I managed to get my Keyblade, but to think it was all because I ended up forming a connection with Sora's heart... Honestly, it felt unbelievable to me at first.

"Interesting. We'll have to look into the history of the Keyblade after this," Bentley commented. Suddenly, the rubble of the bot shook before Eggman and Nefarious popped out of the hover seat, covered in dust.

"This won't be *cough,cough* the last time you see us!" the fatso shouted.

"You squishies will pay for this!" Nefarious added. "And we will capture Sly Cooper!" A beam came down from their ship, which hit the two and they disappeared. Must've been a ray to teleport them to their ship.

The only thing I was positive about in this whole situation was that this had just gotten even more complicated than before.

 **End Chapter**


	16. Sly: On The Road Once More!

**Chapter 13: On the Road Once More!**

We're going to have expand or upgrade your ship if we get any more passengers on here," I commented, seeing the three newcomers now joining us. Roxas was inspecting for I didn't know what.

"Knowing Sora, you're probably not human," he pointed out. I nearly jumped. How did he know that?

"Want me to undo the spell?" Donald called out.

"No-"

"Yes please! I'm beginning to feel insecure without my shell!" Bentley cried out.

In a few sparkles, I was furry with a tail again. I still won't get used to that.

Although, based on the expressions that Roxas, Naminé and Xion were giving my gang and I, now that we've all transformed back into our actual selves, it was pretty much safe to say that they were pretty surprised over what we actually looked like.

"Woah," Xion finally said. "So, this is what all of you really look like without that spell on you?"

"It pretty much is, yeah," I answered.

I asked the group, "Before the shadow incident, we were on our way to see Ansem. Are you still up for that? Some of the things Nefarious and Eggman said have me puzzled, and Ansem might be able to help us out."

"To Ansem, huh?" Okay, that didn't sound like Roxas was fond of the guy. Naminé and Xion also looked a little tense.

"Is something wrong? Ansem is a nice person."

"Well, let's just say our experiences of him are... far from ideal," Xion muttered nervously.

"Ansem was hard on them, in a way that he saw them as inferior," Riku explained. I could scoff at that. That was definitely rude.

"Ansem? Seeing these three as inferior to him? That literally makes no sense. He seemed like a very nice man back on Radiant Garden."

"You may think he's a nice person, but to us, he was anything but that," Naminé said.

Okay, this is getting more and more confusing. Why exactly are these three acting as if Ansem was some sort of heartless being? He definitely didn't seem that way when I met him.

I asked Sora, "Does this have anything to do with a part of your story that you haven't told us, Sora? I'm struggling to figure out why those three are acting this way."

Sora gave an unsure look, even doing that posture that just spoke, "I'm not saying."

"It's... more of a personal part for them."

"Say no more. I won't ask any further."

"So just a quick stop at this Ansem guy's?" Carmelita implied. Sora and I nodded.

As long as it isn't too long," Roxas added. Seriously, what exactly is their past with Ansem to make them resent him so much?

"Well then, everyone, time to get this show on the road," King Mickey said. "Off to Radiant Garden we go!"

Hopefully Ansem can help us figure out the mystery of the mark. Le Paradox, Eggman and Nefarious told us that it's important, but why? If only they would stop being so vague.

But I guess it was bad enough for those two for giving even a hint of their plan away.

SKSKSKSK

It only took a minute or two to reach Radiant Garden and even shorter to "port". My gang looked very amazed.

"Look at this place!" Murray said.

This place is just gorgeous!" Carmelita said. "Absolutely gorgeous!"

"I don't think I've ever seen such a place as beautiful as this one before in my life up until now!" Penelope said.

"Welcome to Radiant Garden, everyone!" Sora said with a bright smile on his face.

This place is among the best looking places I've seen since Sora came into my life. "Surprised, everyone? I felt the same way when I first got here."

"I'm guessing that Ansem lives on the castle?" Bentley questioned, pointing to the large structure.

"Yep."

"That's definitely one gigantic castle," Carmelita remarked, a hint of surprise in her voice. "It makes me wonder what kind of man this Ansem is if he's actually living in there."

Now that Carmelita said that, actually, it kind of makes me wonder a bit. Maybe Ansem will have answers as to why Roxas, Xion and Naminé have some sort of fear towards him? I mean, considering how none of them look eager to actually see him in person, I can help but wonder about that at this point.

"Now then, everyone," King Mickey began. "Just follow us and we'll be at the castle in no time!"

I have so many questions regarding everything that's happened since I met Sora. Could there be a greater purpose to what has been going on?

SKSKSKSK

Ansem ran his finger delicately over the design of the mark on my hand. He was very focused.

"What do you think, Ansem?" King Mickey asked.

"From all of my studies and research, there isn't an exact match to this mark," he answered. "But what of this in the center?" He outlined the center with the "L" like symbol.

"I don't know," I replied. I never really thought about it."

"I would infer that this center represents... a clock."

"A clock?" That's a strange comparison. But looking at the center, it did resemble the face of an old-fashioned clock.

"Well, one can interpret the center of this symbol as one, anyway."

Now that just makes this mark even more of a mystery than it was already. Why would that symbol in particularly represent a clock?

"And you're sure that there's no other match to this mark in your research?"

"None that I'm aware of, I can confirm that. This certainly is a mysterious marking you have engraved on you."

And the mystery continues... I wasn't expecting Ansem to know much, but the clock interpretation at least gets us somewhere. Maybe we'll figure this out soon, but I think we're running out of people we know that we can talk to about the mark.

"Are we able to see this symbol?" Riku asked. The wise man nodded before he stood from his seat. Reaching into a drawer, he pulled out a book.

"The clock looks very similar to this." Ansem opened the book and on the left side was a clock symbol similar to the sigil. On the other page was a sun like symbol.

"What's the sun?" I wondered.

"It accompanies the clock for some reason or another." I looked between the two symbols. Something seemed to click when I picture them... Hold on.

"Can you lend a pen and paper?"

"Oh, for what?"

"It's a hunch, but I want to check something." My required essentials were present a moment later. I carefully first drew the days of the sun symbol exactly and then added the clock hands in the center. Now if I flip the sun vertically...

"What?" Ansem hunched over his desk in surprise.

"That's the same as the mark!" Sora gasped.

Sure enough, what I ended up drawing definitely looked similar to the marking on my hand. And needless to say, everyone else was surprised once they saw them for themselves.

"Who knew that that sun would actually end up resembling the same mark on Sly's hand?" Kairi asked with a hint of surprise in her voice.

"Certainly not me," Ansem admitted, clearly surprised by this discovery himself.

Looks to me like we managed to find ourselves a breakthrough of sorts.

I told the group, "Well, I think we just got closer to figuring out what's going on with the mark. That was just a hunch, and even I'm surprised things worked out like that. Is there anything we should know about that book, Ansem?"

"I had recieved this from an anonymous donor upon my return to Radiant Garden. It has no author and nothing that stands out except these symbols." Flipping through more pages, we did see more mysterious designs. Some had sketched descriptions of old ruins and a strange alphabet I had never seen before.

"What did the guards see?" King Mickey asked.

"They never saw anyone in or outside the castle. So it's a mystery how it got in."

I turned the page back to the clock and the sun. I saw more of the strange writing.

"What about these letters?" Penelope pointed out.

"As of now, I am unable to decipher a single word. I can only understand the alphabet we know."

When I looked back down at the book, I immediately rubbed my eyes. There was ancient wording there before, right?

"Uh, Sly?" Sora called, stunned himself. "Tell me the words didn't change so I can read them."

"Good, I'm not the only one."

"What are you two going on about?" Kairi inquired.

"We can read it."

And that's when everyone in the room literally stared at us with surprised expressions on their faces. I swear, a few of them even had their mouths ajar once they heard that.

"You two can actually read what's written in that book?" Penelope asked, clearly dumbfounded upon learning this information.

"Yep, we definitely can," Sora answer.

"It looks clear as day to the both of us," I then answered.

"But... But how?!" A speechless Bentley then asked. "I've never seen those letters before in my life! How is it that you two are able to read it flawlessly?!"

I don't really know, but I do feel that another breakthrough in the mystery is coming because of this book. Are you ready to figure out what's going on, Sora? This book may end up leading us in that direction."

He nodded to me.

"The flow of time is as constant as the stability of space. To understand them, they must be considered as one power, known as Dimension."

"The power of Dimension bends both elements to the will of the user. It is what brings order and foundation to the universe. The Dimension is shaped by the Desires of those created in it."

"The part of space, the astral sun, creates a living environment for new worlds and organisms. The part of time, the grand clock, gives the worlds an ever-changing environment that does not remain constant."

"Dimension is where these two natural elements coexist and where one is affected if the other is as well. While it is stable, it is also dangerous. A single disruption can shake the balance of time and space. Therefore, Dimension must be watched by they that bear both."

That's all on these pages.

And honestly, that sounded pretty complex to me. And it was clear that everyone else that they had the same thoughts as well.

"Is that actually what it says in those pages?" Xion asked.

"Yep, the both of us can confirm this," Sora answered.

"That has got to be one of the most cryptically written messages I've ever heard in my life, if you ask me," Bentley admitted.

I have to agree with Bentley on that one. I have a feeling that the author is someone that none of us have met. And decoding that passage is probably going to take a while. It seems like every answer we get brings more questions...

"Sly, your bag is glowing," Carmelita warned. It must be the Chaos Emerald. Once I retrieved it from my satchel, Sora did the same for his. Both of them were glowing intensely.

"Those gems..." Ansem said aloud. He then flipped through the pages of the book, near the beginning. On both pages were gemstones much like the Chaos Emeralds, a total of seven of them.

"My goodness," Bentley said, staring at the pages Ansem had showed us in surprise.

"Those definitely look highly similar to the same gemstones Sora and Sly have," Kairi commented.

"Yes," Ansem replied. "Very much so."

So, there's actually more than two of these Chaos Emeralds? I'm assuming that's the case, based on what's depicted on those pages in question.

I said to Sora, "I think it's time to see if this book has any info on the Chaos Emeralds that we don't already know. Although there are things in this book that we don't understand fully, I think we'll figure it out eventually."

"Yeah. Let's see what this means first." We looked back at the book, searching for the description. "Here." He pointed to a passage. "The Chaos Emeralds react when in contact with each other. There are also instances when they react to the use of another. The power of all seven Chaos Emeralds can give a single person god like abilities."

"God?" Bentley gulped. Yeah, the memory of a certain, maniacal raptor came to my mind.

"And there's seven of them," Riku reminded. "Yen Sid said that one alone already has a lot of power."

"If that's the case, I'm actually both interested and scared to find out what would actually happen if all seven of them were brought together," Penelope admitted. "You know, other the god-like abilities."

To be honest, I felt like I could relate with Penelope on this. If all seven of these mysterious Chaos Emralds were brought together, there's no telling what kind of powers they could give the one that retrieved them all.

I asked the others, "Does anybody here have an idea why the Emeralds were glowing in our bags a couple seconds ago? The book said they were reacting to something, but I'm not entirely sure if mine was reacting to Sora's Emerald or another one we haven't located yet."

"Well, since yours and Sora's have already been in contact, I would say this is another Emerald," Mickey answered. "Which means, going by your similar circumstances, should be in the hands of someone from outside either of our sets of worlds."

"So we get to go to a whole new world?" Murray asked.

"Most likely."

But now that brings up a question," Roxas said. "Where exactly are we supposed to check out next?"

Roxas did bring up a very good point right there. The other five Emeralds could be anywhere out there and it's obvious that we know nothing of where they could be. Who knows how long it'll take for us to find even one of them.

Then, I thought of something. "Everybody, I have an idea. With all the power the Chaos Emeralds are said to have, it wouldn't surprise me if Le Paradox, Nefarious, Eggman, and possibly some other bad people are looking for them. Maybe they are working with the person who gave them the knowledge of the Keyblade. This could explain Le Paradox's talk of "associates". Ansem, I think that book may be helpful. Sora will probably agree with me on that. Do you think we could borrow it for a bit?"

The wise man of this world nodded.

"As you two are the only ones able to understand the writing, I would more say it was meant for you," he explained. "Take it with you on your journey together. It may hold more information on what the darkness is seeking."

"Thanks, Ansem," Sora said, closing the book carefully and picking it up.

"Well, we've gotten the book, but how exactly is that supposed to help us find out where we're supposed to find the other Chaos Emralds?" Bentley asked.

"Considering that Sora and I are the only ones that're able to read the writing in this book, maybe we can find some clues or something regarding where we should try searching next inside of it," I suggested.

"Let's see if we can figure something out then. I'm actually surprised about the amount of potentially important info in this book, and I think that there is even more that Sora and I have yet to locate."

"The book did say they're attracted in a way to each other," Sora pointed out. "If we focus on that, maybe a Chaos Control can create a gateway to that world."

"A loose idea, but it is the only shot we have," Bentley said.

"I wish all of you the best of luck on locating the other Chaos Emralds," Ansem said. "May you be able to find them all first before they fall into the wrong hands."

"Thank you for your words of support, Ansem," I said. "All of us will do everything we can to find them first."

I asked the others, "So, now that we know what our next objective is, who is ready to see if Sora's theory about Chaos Control is correct? The Emeralds being connected at least gives us something to work with."

2 hours ago

Quote More

SoulKingdomCreator

"Nothing else to go on," Penelope confirmed.

"We'll be seeing you later, Ansem," Sora said to the wise man, who nodded in return.

SKSKSKSK

Once we returned to the Gummi Ship, Sora and I looked at the book one more time. You know, just to be sure it wasn't playing tricks on us. But sure enough, we could still read every word as if it was our own respective languages.

"Why do you think only we can read it, even though we had never seen the writing before?" he asked me.

"I'm not sure, but maybe for me, it has something to do with my mark," I inferred.

"I don't think I have one."

"How would we know? I've never seen you without your own gloves."

"That's true. So are you saying that I have a mark too?"

"Only one way to find out." Sora then proceeded to removes his gloves. Both of our eyes widened at what we saw.

"This is..."

"Guys, we're ready to make the jump," Murray called. Time to do some Chaos Control. Sora hurringly pulled his gloves back and we went to the bridge.

"You ready to do this, Sora?" I asked, looking in his direction.

"You bet I am!" Sora exclaimed with a bright smile on his face. "Let's do this, Sly!"

I nodded in response and held out the white Chaos Emrald while Sora did the same with the aqua one. They soon began to glow and resonate with each other, the light becoming more and more bright as the seconds passed.

Where will this Chaos Control take us? After what's happened so far, I feel like anything is possible. We know what we need to do, now we just need to figure out how to do it. This is definitely going to be unfamiliar territory for both of our groups.

 **End Chapter**


	17. Sora: Prologue (WIP)

?: Welcome back, hero of the key.

Sora: Who's there? You're not Ventus, I know that.

?: I am... a friend. I wish I can tell you more, but time is precious.

(a chest appears)

?: Here's something from me. Please take it.

game explains basic controls, open chest)

(a huge platform appears between Sora's and the raccoon's)

?: Step forward and meet your newest link.

Sora: My newest link?

(Sora walks across the bridge, same time as the raccoon)

?: Don't worry. He is not your enemy, hero of the key. He is your ally.

(The two of them hesitantly step towards each other and stare at each other in amazement)

? (Raccoon): (Hesitantly, he holds out his hand for Sora to shake)

Sora: (He shakes the raccoon's hand) I'm Sora. What's your name?

? (Raccoon): I'm Sly. Nice to meet you, Sora.

Sora: (hands retract) This is a rather unusual meeting. This is the first time someone other than me have come here as far as I know.

Sly: Where are we anyway?

Sora: You don't know?

Sly: Not the slightest clue.

Sora: Well, you could say that this place is...

?: Brace yourselves...

Sora: Huh?

Sly: Wait. Did you also hear a voice?

?: There are times when you must fight on your own... (a barrier comes between Sora and Sly)

(Dark creatures start appearing on the platform)

Sly: Wh-what are those things?!

Sora: Heartless?! Not now!

Sly: Heartless? What're Heartless?

Sora: There's no time to explain right now, Sly! Just don't let them near your heart!

Sly: My heart?! (He takes out his cane and gets ready to battle the creatures)

(The voice explains how to fight)?: And there are times when you must fight side by side.

Sora: (defeats Shadows and sees the barrier fall, then sees Sly cornered) Hold on, Sly! (quickly destroys Shadows) You alright?

Sly: Yeah. Thanks, Sora. My cane seemed useless against them.

Sora: Only the Keyblade can properly dispose of them. (holds up the Keyblade)

Sly: The Keyblade?

Sora: It's a very long story.

(suddenly, the platform becomes dark and a Darkside Heartless rises from the darkness)

Sly: That's a big Heartless...

Sora: Stay close if you don't want to lose your light, Sly!

Sly: Got it! (He readies his cane)

(After defeating the Darkside Heartless, it falls onto the platform, covering it with darkness)

Sora: W-Woah!

(The platform starts to break apart)

Sora: Look out, Sly!

(The platform completely breaks, causing the two to fall into the abyss below)


	18. Rayman: Prologue (WIP)

Rayman: Wh-what is this place...? Is this one of Polokus's dreams?

?: Do not be alarmed _._

Rayman: Huh? Is someone there?

?: I am a friend of your god. But I have so little time to tell you more. You must step forward now.

Rayman: Step foward?

?: Yes. Please, do so.

(Explanation on the basic controls of the game)

(A huge platform appears between Rayman's platform and the other individual's platform. Two stained glass bridges form from their respective platforms and connect to the center platform.)

?: Step foward and meet your other link.

Rayman: Link? Besides Polokus?

?: And as your link, you do not need to feel distrust for him. I promise.

(Rayman crosses the bridge to meet the new link, the two slowly approach)

? (cat): (goes tense in case Rayman tries something)

Rayman: Hey, it's okay, I won't hurt you.

? (cat): (looks curious and confused) What are you?

Rayman: Well, it's a pretty long story. It's complicated. What about you?

? (Cat): I'm known as a Lombax where I'm from.

Rayman: A Lombax?

? (Cat): Like you said before, it's complicated.

Rayman: I see. (He holds out his hand in in order for the cat to shake it) My name's Rayman, by the way.

? (Cat): (He gives Rayman a handshake) Rayman, huh? Nice to meet you. Name's Ratchet.

Rayman: Ratchet? I don't think I've ever seen you around the Glade before.

Ratchet: The Glade? I've never heard of that world before.

Rayman: Wait. You're from another planet?

Ratchet: Probably because I've never seen someone like you before. How are you able to... you know.

Rayman: That's something even I don't know. (suddenly, a barrier comes between them, knocking them both back)

?: There are times you must fight on your own.

Rayman: The voice...!

Ratchet: At least I'm not the only one hearing that voice!

(shadows start springing up)

Rayman: Nightmares? Wait, there's something different about these...

Ratchet: Nightmares? What're those?

Rayman: That takes a bit of explaining too. I'll explain everything when I get the chance. For now, we gotta take care of these guys!

Ratchet: Right! (He takes out a wrench-like weapon and prepares to fight)

(Explanation on how to fight)

(after gameplay)

Rayman: Something's not right... they're not fading away...

Ratchet: What are these things made of anyway?! Stupid bugs!

?: And there are times you must fight side by side.

(barrier falls)

Rayman: Hopefully, this levels the playing field!

(after another gameplay)

Ratchet: Still nothing...!

Rayman: I really hope I don't have to go there...!

Ratchet: "There"?

(suddenly, shadows disappear and a Twilight Thorn appears)

Ratchet: What in Polaris is that?!

Rayman: How am I supposed to know?!

Ratchet: You think we might be able to make some damage on this guy?!

Rayman: I have a feeling the chance of that's gonna be slim, but we gotta try!

Ratchet: Right! Let's do this!

(After another gameplay)

Ratchet: We did something!

Rayman: But that "something" wasn't enough!

(The Twilight Thorn slowly approches Rayman and Ratchet)

Ratchet: What're we supposed to do now?!

Rayman: No idea!

(The two slowly back away from the Twilight Thorn but end up near the edge of the platform)

?: You have been ill prepared to fight the new threats to your worlds. We will help you this one time.

(the Twilight Thorn is suddenly struck by lightning and four sword slashes appear, cutting it into pieces and making it fall apart into darkness)

?: Do not worry. There are more connections awaiting you on this new journey of yours. They will give you powers you could only imagine.

Rayman: Wait. Why are you telling us this?

Ratchet: Just who are you guys?

?: There is no time. You will learn soon enough. But now, it's time to return to the waking world.

(platform starts glowing brightly, petals come flying up, Rayman and Ratchet start fading into the light)

Rayman: Ratchet, do you think we'll see each other again?

Ratchet: You know, after what just happened right now... I have a feeling that's definitely gonna be possible.

Rayman: (He smiles) Same here. Well then, I guess I'll see you soon.

Ratchet: Yeah. See you soon.

(The two get engulfed into the light, the screen then gets engulfed in light afterwards)


	19. Ratchet: Intro

_"Never once in my career... my life... have I believed that stars were more than stars. But that changed on that night, when a miracle came to me. My whole view of everything wasn't the same since these new thoughts wouldn't stop for any alibi I had. But... am I the only with these visions or are there others beyond the cosmos that are the same?"_

 _\- Ratchet before the intro_

The intro starts with open space, showing stars and several different planets. The Ultima Co. logo appears. As the lyrics start, the screen changes to a desolate city at night with the seven protagonists on one of the buildings. The screen changes between all of them, seeming to be talking to each other, Then, the screen changes to show the front of the heroes staring up at the stars. The screen changes to a dark, underwater scene and the company logos appear, until the _Soul Kingdom_ title appears.

After the beginning of the intro, the intro shows key points in the original series: Ratchet meeting Clank, defeating Drek, battling the protopet followed by Dr. Nefarious, moments of Ratchet battling in DreadZone, encountering Tachyon, Clank and Ratchet arguing with the Zoni in the background, Clank being taken by the Zoni, and Ratchet and Alister working together. At the Great Clock scene, Alister fires a negative charge from his Omniwrench at Ratchet, which strikes him in the heart. Ratchet staggers a bit before he falls off the platform with Clank failing to catch him.


	20. Ratchet: Prologue

Is this the gateway to the afterlife? I clearly remember Allister firing at me with his Omniwrench. I felt so much pain, so much. I could barely stand. When I looked at him... the first lombax I had ever met in my life... all I saw was betrayal and pure rage. And then, I felt myself falling.

I thought I heard someone call out to me as I fell. It sounded like Clank.

Clank. After we have finally reunited, he had to leave to take care of the Great Clock. But in the end... it was me who left. Left him to defend the Clock from Azimuth. All... by himself. Clank... forgive me...

 _"Step forward,"_ a sudden, disembodied voice called out.

Who is that? And where am I? To find that out, I may have to listen to the voice.

I did what the voice had requested and stepped foward.

 _"Please take this."_ A Combustor appeared before me. I immediately checked where I keep my weapons and I find it empty. Maybe it's because I'm dead... maybe? But if Im dead, why am I being given a weapon? This is too weird, this is Clank's territory. So I just grabbed the Combustor by the handle.

A moment later, a second platform appeared followed by a bridge that connected the three.

Right. The platform far away with that... thing. Really, what is that guy?

I have no idea what is going on. Maybe that thing has an idea?

With the thought in my mind, I slowly crossed the bridge towards the center platform that was created. Maybe I'll finally get some answers about who that guy is once I finally meet him face-to-face?

 _"Step forward and meet your link."_

"My 'link'?" I couldn't help but ask. "I don't even know what that thing is."

 _"He is not your enemy. I promise."_ Looks like I still didn't have a choice. I turned my focus to the guy, who was staring back at me in bewilderment. Nothing new to me, being a member of an endagered species in this dimension... if this even is my dimension.

The guy was really strange. He had no arms, no legs, no neck - how does he breathe?! - but his hands, feet and head seemed to be kinetically connected to his torso, which was purple with a white ring and a red hood. His head looked like a peach colored vegetable was stuck on him and his yellow and orange (or is it ginger?) hair looked like rabbit ears. So in all, he's strange, but a little goofy looking.

We both were cautiously walking toward each other. When he noticed that I was carrying my Combustor, the thing got defensive, raising his gloved fists. I quickly hid the shotgun to not show harm.

"Whoa, hold on," I said, holding a hand up. "I'm not here to fight. But I would like to know what you are." The thing only stayed in his current position.

"I was wondering the same thing," he said. Did...did he really talk? With no voice box? With no neck in general? I literally felt my Combustor slip out of my grip in the shock.

"You can talk?! How is that possible?!" The guy seemed to be slightly amused and relaxed.

The thing responded with, "Not even I know the answer to that."

I stared at the thing in bewilderment. Not even he knows how he's able to talk? This guy's really starting to confuse me more and more. First I discover that bizarre appearance of his and then I find out that he can somehow speak.

"Um... Hope you don't mind me asking, but what are you?" He chuckled nervously.

"That's a long story." Then, he looked me over again. "I could ask the same to you, umm..."

"Ratchet. I'm a Lombax. There's not many of us left." I decided to take the peaceful initiative and held out my free hand. To my relief, he smiled back. The guy seemed like he couldn't even be close to my age. Then, his gloved hand took mine.

"Lombax, huh? That's a new one in the Glade. I'm Rayman. Nice to meet you." Rayman? That's an unusual name. I wonder what that's about.

I said, "The Glade? I've never heard of that place before."

"Well, it's a little bit complicated to explain, you see," Rayman said. "I would ask you about where you're from, but I have a feeling that it's also complicated too."

"I guess I don't have to go into too much detail about that now, huh?" I asked while chuckling sheepishly.

I caught a strange sound a moment later and some kind of barrier came between me and Rayman. We both stared in surprise and I tested the barrier with my hand. It was like there was a wall.

 _"Sometimes, you need to fight on your own..."_ the voice said.

"Am I the only one that..."

"Heard a voice? Good, I'm not completely crazy," Rayman commented. Thank goodness I wasn't losing my mind either.

Dark monsters appeared a moment later. "Have you seen anything like this, Rayman? I have no idea what these are."

"I've definitely never seen anything like these things before back at the Glade!" Rayman exclaimed.

The two of us slowly backed away from the strange monsters as they slowly approached us. Seriously, what are those things, anyway?

"They're not Nightmares..." I heard him say.

"Nightmares?"

"Either way, don't let these beasts touch you!" Quickly, Rayman began swinging his fists at the creeps. They were sent flying, but they got back up. Quickly, I grabbed for the Combustor and started blasting them.

I kept attacking them, but my weapon seemed useless. Just what are these things?

"Okay, these things are definitely not normal!" I exclaimed in surprise from the fact that my weapon did nothing to the creatures.

"Just what's with these things anyway?" Rayman asked. "It's like they're completely immune to everything we do to them!"

Suddenly, the things just disappeared and I heard the barrier go down.

 _"And sometimes, you need to fight alongside others."_ All of a sudden, a giant, distorted, grey monster with a strange symbol on its head climbed onto the platform.

"Wh-what is that thing?!" Rayman asked, obviously frightened.

"I-I don't know! Why would I recognize that thing?!" The monster attacked, swinging its claws at us. Both of us quickly jumped out of he way.

I said, "We have to at least try to take this thing down!"

"I'm not sure if our attacks will do anything to this guy, but I guess it couldn't hurt to try!" Rayman said.

Sadly, however, our hopes of actually doing anything to the creature immediately faded away. No matter how many times I shot at it with the Combustor or how many times Rayman hit it with his fists, not even a scratch appeared on the monster.

I felt nervous. Not like the usual live-or-die nervous on the battlefield like I'm used to, but the we're-going-to-die nervous. That thing could really destroy with one hit. We were both backing away from the monster, but we came to a halt when we saw that we had nowhere else to go.

I stared up at the creature, dread clutching my heart. I never felt more... terrified.

 _"You have been ill prepared to fight the new threats to your worlds,"_ the voice said. I was about to snap that of course we were, but then the voice spoke again. _"We will help you this one time."_

In a flash, the creature was struck by a large bolt of lightning. The creature cried out in pain for the first time. I heard the sound of a sword - A sword? Something that ancient? Come on - and a few seconds later, the monster fell apart and melted into darkness.

 _"Do not worry. You will make connections on your new journey. These connections will give you powers you can only imagine."_

OK, now I really what to know who has that voice!

I glanced over at Rayman and I could tell just by the look on his face that he was just as perplexed as to what just happened before us as well.

Suddenly, the entire platform we were standing on soon became completely engulfed in possibly the brightest light I've ever seen.

And for a split moment, I thought I heard the sounds of a loud, old fashioned clock.

"Who are you?" I heard Rayman ask.

 _"You will meet us soon."_ 'Us'?

"Hey Ratchet!" Rayman called through the light. "We'll meet again, right?"

"After what we've gone through, it is definitely possible."

I heard Rayman give a light chuckle.

"I had the same thought as well," Rayman said. "And until that day comes, I'll definitely keep thinking about this experience, Ratchet."

"Yeah. I'll definitely be thinking about this encounter with you too, Rayman," I said as a small smile began to form on my face.

"See you soon."

"Yeah, see ya." The last thing I remembered was... a warm, blinding light.

 _Tick tock... ding...!_

SKY

Clank pushed me out of the way of Azimuth's attack. Wait, when did that happen? He was so fast. I felt like something else happened, but hitting the glass floor broke that thought. I got up and stared in disbelief as Azimuth.

He tried to kill me. He tried to kill me so he can bring back the Lombaxes.

Was the encounter with Rayman just a dream? It felt so real.

But wether it was a dream or not, I couldn't stop staring at Azimuth. Both of the thoughts of Rayman and the fact that Azimuth had attempted to end my life flooded my mind with seemingly no end.

Azimuth then took off on his hoverboots. I pushed all those thoughts away and began to pursuit him with Clank on my back.

End Chapter


	21. Ratchet: Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The engine was working fine thanks to that pecualiar gem that Clank and I found in an asteroid belt after that meteor shower near Terachnos. It still surprised me that one little gem could power the entire mothership for a lifetime.

"Doing another check on the new engine again?" I heard Clank call.

"Well, you did say it could cause a meltdown if overused. How was the main computer?" My little pal shook his head.

"There has been no match as to what kind of crystal this specific gem is."

"Not even the possibility of being radioactive Raritanium?"

"If it was, the ship would've already imploded." I couldn't help but sigh. Ever since we found the glowing rock, Clank and I have been looking into what it could be. But we've had no luck.

 **"Are you two still going on about that rock?!"** Ah. Talwyn. She had been making sure the two of us weren't just focusing on the gem. **"Get up on the bridge now! We're being invaded!"**

"We're coming! Any idea what we will be dealing with when we get there?"

 **"That's just it!"** Talwyn said with a clear hint of panic in her voice. **"I literally have no idea what these things up here are! They don't resemble even a little bit of what we're used to fighting against!"**

Clank and I couldn't help but look at each other in surprise. Were we actually being invaded by some sort of species that none of us have encountered before in our lives?

"Ratchet, we must hurry and help Talwyn and Qwark!" Clank called.

"Yeah. I get you." Strapping Clank onto my back, I sprinted to the bridge of the Starship Phoenix.

If the invaders are related to the creatures I faced when I was with Rayman, then I am not sure how to take them down.

Eventually, we managed to reach the bridge of the ship. And it was here that my initial thoughts of worry have come true, as the first thing I saw were the same dark monsters Rayman and I fought against.

"How did they get on the ship without the detectors picking them up?!" I shouted.

"They just popped out of nowhere, as far as I know!" Tal shouted, trying to shoot them with a Combustor.

"Our weapons won't work on them!" I had to blurt out.

"What do you mean?" Qwark questioned. "Nothing can get past this bod of muscles."

"Because you're a muscle head! We can't destroy them with what we have!"

"How do you know this?" Clank asked.

"If I told you, I think you'll believe I've lost my mind!" I dodged one of the monster, still futilely trying to keep them at bay with my Omniwrench.

The voice said Rayman and I were ill prepared to face the new threats to our worlds. Just what did it mean by that? And how much of a danger are these things? The truth behind everything seems like it is a ways away.

Regardless, it was clear plain as day that none of our weapons were doing a thing against them. And it was obvious that Tal was getting more and more frustrated by the minute because of this.

"Ugh, our weapons aren't even doing a dent to them!" Tal shouted in frustration. "What are we supposed to even do here?!"

That was a very good question right there. If Rayman and I couldn't do anything to fight back against these things, then it was obvious, to me at least, that there was no way for us to actually win in this situation.

Qwark was already running away, screaming like the coward he was. A swarm of them were coming straight for me and I had to grapple to the ceiling to dodge.

"Ratchet, I need to get a sample of those creatures," Clank said. "If the results come out what I deem possible, I may know a way to defeat them."

"Go down there?" I looked at the sea of black monsters.

I said, "That sounds risky, but we're running out of options." I think that we need to learn about the creatures to make any progress.

It was a risk that we needed to take. There was no other option in this situation.

"Here's hoping we find something to use against these guys!" I said, preparing to get back into the action happening before us.

And so, without any hesitation, I then jumped back down onto the bridge. Unsurprisingly, the dark creatures took notice of us and immediately started charging in our direction.

"Gah!" Clank gasped. I glanced over my shoulder. When did enemies get behind us?! It didn't matter until one of them leapt and landed on Clank.

"Clank!"

"I've got this!" Clank quickly swatted the bug off. "And I got the scan!"

"Great, pal!" I leapt over the swarm. "What are we up against?"

"These monsters appear to be made of dark energy. If we expose them to a strong enough energy, it should disintegrate them!"

"Where are we going to get something like-?" An idea crossed my mind. "What about the gem?"

"Ratchet, as much as that is the solution, there is no telling what using that energy can do."

"It's our only shot, right?"

Clank said, "I don't know about this... but we don't have many options left." I said, "Then lets do it! Here goes nothing!"

"Agreed! Let's head to back to the engine room and get that stone as quickly as we can!" Clank said.

Without a second thought, I immediately bolted down to the engine room. If Clank's scan results were enough, then that gem we found must be the answer to fending off against those things we needed.

I don't think I ever ran so fast before, not even on the edge of death at the many foes in the past.

The stone in the engine was illuminating a stronger light than previously.

"I don't know what to make of this," Clank muttered in surprise. "Its power has only increased in the few minutes we've been absent."

"Can you tap into it, buddy?"

"Too much of that energy in my system will cause a short circuit."

"Then how-" I couldn't finish before those things broke down the door. I wasn't even thinking when I just reached out and took hold of the gem. As soon as I made contact, the light only intensified, blinding me and Clank.

What is this... this power? I could feel it course through me.

Between this and my meeting with Rayman, a lot of crazy stuff has happened lately. What is going on?

All of these thoughts were flooding my mind at once, seemingly with no end in sight. But I don't think I can blame myself from thinking about that stuff at the moment.

The light from the jewel continued to shed its blinding light for a while longer until it soon started to die down, eventually to the point where Clank and I can actually see once again.

To our great surprise, all of the monsters were gone.

 **"Ratchet, what did you do?"** Talwyn called on the speaker again. **"Whatever that light was, it made all of the creeps disappear. Not to mention we've reached some kind of warp drive."**

"Warp drive?!" I wasn't expecting that.

 **"You and Clank better get back to the bridge! I don't think we can control the ship!"**

Hopefully the problems aren't too bad. After everything that's happened though, I don't think I can predict what is about to go down at the bridge.

With the jewel in hand and Clank still on my back, I immediately sprinted to the bridge. Once there, it was clear that what Talwyn said earlier was true. Those weird black things had completely vanished from sight, almost like they never attacked us in the first place.

Of course, that didn't really clear my worries completely as soon as I saw the warp drive in question right before the Starship Phoenix.

"What's the coordinates?"

"We don't know!" Tal yelled. "All we know is that we're going wherever this is heading!"

As soon as she said that, all I remembered was a flash of light from the warp drive and then followed by a loud crash.

 **End Chapter**


	22. Ratchet: World Of No Logic

**Chapter 2: World of No Logic**

"Hello?" a distant voice called, bringing me to my senses that I had lost in some sort of crash. There was a ringing in my head as I felt a weight on my back. I pushed up, lifting debris off of myself.

"Is anyone alive?" The voice called again. It sounded very familiar, like from more than five years ago. Or had it been only four years?

Rubble fell behind me. I turned around to find Clank climbing out.

"Clank!" I immediately rushed to my friend, helping him get his foot unstuck.

"Are you okay, buddy?" I asked out of concern for my friend's safety.

"Yes, I believe I didn't sustain any serious damage," Clank said. To that, I gave a huge sigh of relief. I don't know what I would've done if something bad happened to Clank.

"I'm glad that you're okay, Clank. That was one seriously bumpy ride we had, though."

"Yes, I couldn't agree more, Ratchet."

I asked Clank, "Did you hear someone calling just now? Whoever that was, the voice sounded familiar to me."

"I did pick up a voice, but it matches none of the civilians we've acquainted with before."

"Ratchet?" the voice sounded once more.

"Lifeform behind you, Ratchet!" Clank warned, bringing me to turn to the lifeform. My eyes widened at a figure that was very familiar. Really, who could forget something that doesn't need a NECK, let alone any limbs, to survive?

"Ratchet!"

"Rayman?" I answered back. He nearly slipped down the debris in surprise.

"It's you! How did you-?" Rayman tripped over some scrap and his foot got "dislodged", sending him tumbling to my feet.

"You okay?" I helped him up and supported him because of the lack of a foot.

"I hate it when that happens," he groaned. His foot kinetically got loose and returned to him.

"I may never get used to this," I commented, running a hand through the space where an arm should be.

"Do you know who this is, Ratchet?" Clank questioned. "I have never seen such an... Em... intriguing creature."

"A robot?!" Rayman got defensive all of a sudden, on guard.

"Whoa whoa, calm down!" I got in front of my best friend as a shield. "This is my friend, Clank. He's very intelligent and reliable. There's no need to get defensive." Rayman quickly relaxed at that.

"Sorry. I've had a history with usually bad robot pirates and mechanical monsters." A groan came out of my throat at the mention of robot pirates.

"Don't get me started with robot pirates. They're the worst."

"Ratchet, you didn't answer my question," Clank reminded, getting irritated.

Oh, right, sorry." I said, rubbing the back of my neck with a nervous smile growing on my face. "This here's Rayman, Clank."

"Rayman?" Clank asked with a confused expression. "No offense to our new acquaintance, but that's a rather unusual name, even from where we're from."

"Don't worry about it," Rayman said with a look of reassurance. "Considering that you two have never been here before, I guess that's something to be expected."

I asked Rayman, "But where are we? It definitely doesn't look like any place that Clank and I have been to."

"Well, I guess an introduction is in order!" Rayman said excitedly. He hopped onto a scrap pile. "Welcome to the Glade of Dreams!"

The Glade of Dreams.

"This is your homeworld?"

"That's right! Glad you remember that after 7 months!"

Did he just say...?

"Wait. Seven months? Last I saw you, it was four to five years ago." He cocked his head at that.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I can definitely confirm that it's been more than seven months since the last time we saw each other. At least where Clank and I are from."

"That is a very astonishing time difference, however," Clank remarked. And I definitely agreed with him. Seven months since the first time Rayman and I met each other? No, that can't possibly be correct.

How is the time difference so big? I don't get it. It seems like I'm adding something else to the list of strange things that have happened recently. Between Rayman's appearance and the apparent time difference between us, I have a lot to look into if I find a way home.

"Rayman, you better get your rabbit hair and you over here before robots capture you again!" a woman's voice shouted. Rayman went stuff before sighing in defeat.

"Who was that?"

"My friend, Ly. I'll be sure to introduce you-"

"AAAAAAGH! A giant rat!" someone screamed.

"I am not a rat!" another person replied. That sounded like Tal.

And I definitely didn't get any positive vibe from the sound of those voices. At all.

"Well, that certainly doesn't sound good in the slightest," Clank commented.

"You're telling me," I said. "Maybe we should go and see what's going on over there."

"That's definitely a good idea," Rayman said. Needless to say, Clank and I couldn't agree with him more.

I responded with, "Since Clank and I don't really know this place, do you mind taking the lead here, Rayman? At least until we learn to navigate the Glade."

"Sure thing." Clank locked back onto my back before me and Rayman leap over the rubble of the ship. Man, it's going to take forever to fix. Not far is... a creature - some kind of frog thing? - that is cowering behind a large mushroom. Nearby was a lady with swirls on her body - wait, is that a jumper? - with shirt purple hair and a bushy tail of the same color and Talwyn with her blaster on the ready.

"Whoa, Tal, hold on!" I called. She turned her way towards me.

"Ratchet. Clank."

"About time, Rayman!" the frog thing shouted.

"Who are those people with you?!" the lady shouted. "Are they with whatever this rat thing is?!"

"For the last time, I'm not a rat!" Tal shouted, annoyed to an extent.

"Globox, Ly, just calm down!" Rayman then said. "These guys aren't here to hurt us! They mean no harm at all!"

"Are these your friends, Rayman? Being in such a new place with new people is going to take some getting used to. I'm still trying to figure out how Clank and I are even in this situation. It seems like you have some introductions to make."

"Yeah, and quickly. People here don't take well to newcomers from another world after the robot pirate invasion a few centuries back."

"Centuries?"

"Anyway, Ly, Globox, this is Ratchet. I told you about Ratchet from my dream, remember?"

"That's the 'lombax' you told us about?" the bushy tailed woman asked curiously.

"Uh, hi," I waved. "I mean no harm. That's my friend, Talwyn, you're talking to. She's a Markazian, not a rat."

"There, we got that sorted out," Tal said.

"I didn't think your dream friend would be so furry," the frog commented. "With a- ROBOT ON HIS BACK!" He went back to hiding pathetically behind the mushroom.

"That's Globox," Rayman unformed. "He's scared very easily. We've been working on it."

"Well taken."

"Over here is another friend. This is Ly, the fairy." I could literally feel the giggles rise in my throat along with Clank and Tal.

"What's so funny?" Ly demanded.

"Fairies? Doesn't look like any fairy I've seen in those outdated fairy tales," Talwyn said.

"We apologize, but our world does not even have a grasp of mystical beings such as fairies because they are barely talked about," Clank explained.

"This is Clank, by the way," I pointed out so the "fairy" didn't hurt my buddy. "He's harmless."

Despite that, Ly still looked pretty standoffish by this, based on that expression she's giving.

"Harmless," the "fairy" soon said, an unconvinced tone in her voice. "Rayman, you do remember that the robots we've had to deal with have caused nothing but trouble, right?"

"Well, yeah," Rayman admitted. "But I really do believe Clank is entirely different from the robot pirates, especially since he's a friend of Ratchet's."

Seriously, what exactly was this world's history with robots?

I really do want to figure that out. Man, this situation just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Good thing I can trust Rayman, otherwise Clank and I won't be getting home anytime soon.

"Gmmph mmmmph!" something muffled shouted. I looked around a little, seeing nothing. Rayman looked down and his expression shows surprise.

"Uh, Ratchet." I looked down and I found myself standing on something.

"Whoa!" I leaped back. The thing unflattened itself and started hovering in the air with its wings. The green guy shakes the dirt off of their face.

"Finally! Am I going to be flattened by everything these days?!" they yell, frustrated.

"Sorry about that, Murfy," Rayman said.

"Murfy?" I asked, looking at the green creature in confusion.

"That's my name," the green creature, Murfy, said. "Don't wear it out! Now, uh, who exactly are you? And- Wait, is that a robot over there?!"

I'm not surprised he would be just as suspicious of Clank just like everyone else, excluding Rayman, here is.

"The name's Ratchet. And that robot over there is my buddy Clank. I met Rayman in a dream a while back, but for some reason Rayman and I can't agree on how long ago that was. I don't even know for sure how our ship ended up in the Glade in the first place. Anything in particular we should know about the Glade?"

So you can blow up the Heart of the World?"

"Murfy!" Ly and Rayman scolded. The green guy covered his large mouth.

"I'm not going to ask for details on that. Anything else?"

"Well, you better be well prepared for a lot of wack here," Rayman explained. "I can show you a few places."

"I suppose, and we can see if there's parts we need for our ship."

"Is anyone going to help me?" I heard another voice. Oh, I forgot about him and I couldn't help but groan.

Who was that?" Ly asked.

"That would be another 'friend' of our's, if you could call him that," I said, a hint of a reluctance in my voice.

"Do you think you can elaborate on that?" Rayman then asked.

"I think it may be best if we properly introduce all of you to him first so you can see what I mean."

I said,"That friend is Captain Quark, a hero who is well known where Clank and I come from. To be honest, dealing with him can be a challenge sometimes. At one point around the time Clank and I first met, Quark was an enemy, but he's tried to change that."

"He's a headache with an ego," Talwyn added on. "I'll get him." Using her jetpack, Tal flew up over the rubble in search for Qwark.

"My sensors indicate that there is a lot of life and little tech on this planet," Clank analyzed.

"This world used to be all nature and beauty," Ly explained. "Until the pirates invaded centuries ago and the recent betrayal of the Magician just over a 100 years ago."

"The 'Magician?'" I asked.

"His real name is Ales," Rayman explained. "He used to be on our side a hundred years ago, until he was manipulated by an old enemy of mine. We were able to defeat both of them a few years ago, but lately, Ales has been acting strange."

"Strange?" I then asked. "How exactly?"

"Well..." Rayman started, looking a little bit troubled at first. "It feels a bit difficult to explain, really."

"To be honest, even I'm not sure how to explain his weird behavior too," Ly admitted.

I responded to Rayman with, "Well, you'll figure it out soon. Since he has a big connection to you, I feel like it won't be a secret forever."

"I hope so, he's been trying to turn over a new leaf. So I'm slightly concerned."

"We should probably go see how the Teensies are doing," Ly announced.

"I'm not the slightest bit teensy," that aggravating voice boomed. I groaned again as we turned to see Qwark and Tal.

"That's Qwark," Rayman inferred, unimpressed by the look on his face.

"Yep."

"Well," Ly started, a just as unimpressed expression on her face. "He certainly seems like a very... interesting person."

"You don't know the half of it," I said. Of all of the people Clank, Tal and I had to be stuck with, even after all of these years, I still can't get over the fact that it had to be Qwark of all people.

I said, "Could somebody explain the Teensies? We're learning a lot today, but I'm unsure about what they are."

"You'll see. Come with us, but keep Clank on your back. He looks less threatening that way." Well, there we have it. Clank climbed onto my back and attached again.

"Is this really a good idea?" Globox asked, having calmed down.

"You know the inhabitants don't take kindly to people from other worlds after the pirate fiasco," Murfy pointed out.

"I trust anyone with Ratchet, so they'll know to respect them as if they're one of us," Rayman stated firmly.

"Well, I guess if you're sure these guys can be trusted, then I guess we're in no position to argue," Ly said, her expression softening.

"That's a relief," I said. "Thanks for helping us clear things out here, Rayman."

"Any time, Ratchet," Rayman said with a smile. "Anything for a friend!"

"I hope you're right about the Teensies trusting us, Rayman. Well, I guess it's time for me and my group to meet a new species. I haven't said those words in a while, so let's hope this meeting goes fine."

He chuckled to me and we all headed into a thick forest.

SKSKSKSK

I could only say one word to describe this planet.

That word was beyond doubt, "strange." Already, we passed by little pixie like lights that Rayman called Lums, which were an energy source for the primitive, little technology this world was comfortable using, along with small, pink like round things with small, strands of blonde hair that were called Electoons. Toony, indeed.

"Fascinating," Clank commented, taking scans of other creatures as we passed them. "It appears these creatures are made of a very similar, organic material, some even close to what those "Electoons" are made of."

"That can't be possible," Tal diagreed. I couldn't blame her on that. "They're all so different. What's the likeliness that they're related?"

"Actually, almost everything is, as you would say, related," Rayman said.

"How?"

"Everything you see, plants, creatures, landscapes, was created by one deity."

"Oh, so we're going into magic now?" Qwark questioned.

"Sort of. This world was shaped by a god named Polokus, the Bubble Dreamer. His bubbles, with the Electoons' help, can create life itself here."

"You're kidding, right?" I couldn't help but ask. "That's not even natural."

"Then, what about you, Rayman?" Clank inquired. "My scans show that you are not made of the same, em, 'process' as your friends or the creatures we've passed. If anything, your body is more like the Lums we've passed along with reflected solar energy."

"You mean moonlight?" Rayman rephrased.

"Yes, I suppose."

"Rayman was made by fellow fairies, powerful ones that watch over the world for Polokus," Ly explained. "They're known as the Nymphs."

"Betilla, the Head Nymph, told me they used rays of moonlight and Lums to create me," Rayman added on. "Unfortunately, they lost some Lums and that explains the lack of limbs."

So his form was a mistake? That's quite a large oversight for some powerful beings.

"Can we end that conversation there please? There's a lot more I want to ask Betilla before I jump to conclusions."

Whatever you say, Rayman," I said. "By the way, I really need to ask now. Has it really been seven months here since the last time we saw each other?"

"Yep, I can definitely confirm that."

"But how? Where we come from, that encounter was a much longer time ago."

"I had a feeling that the question regarding the noticable time difference would be brought up," Rayman mused with a sheepish smile on his face. "As you can most likely tell by now, time here in the Glade of Dreams works differently. And I mean by A LOT."

"How much is a lot? Now I'm definitely interested in figuring out what's going on. So much has happened since that first meeting that I'm not sure I can keep it all straight."

"Well, this sounds impossible, but despite your time being faster, I'm the older one."

"What does that mean?"

"Everyone here is... Well, how should I put this, Ly?"

"The inhabitants age differently," the fairy explained.

"How so?" Talwyn inquired.

"When I first found Ratchet and Clank, it took me a moment to recognize Ratchet because he looked a little older," Rayman said.

"That's true," I pointed out. "It was around four or five years ago when we met. Yet, you don't look like you've changed at all."

"Don't let it fool you. I'm actually a few centuries old, just like everyone else." If this forest wasn't so noisy, I swear one could hear a pin drop.

"Say that again?"

"Okay, to be precise, I'm at least 400 or so."

"What?!" Four-hundred?! This guy looked no older than 17!

"How is that possible?" Clank asked, just as stunned as I was. "Are the people affected by some slow-aging effect on this planet?"

"Nah, we're all just made of dreams so we don't change that often," Murfy butted in.

"Fascinating. I would say that's a connection to the flow of time here. Either this is another dimension where time moves at a slower rate than ours or the time moves slower to adapt to the slow-aging process of the inhabitants that makes them change."

"Nerd!" Murfy honked. Rayman flicked a nut at him, sending him spinning. "Whoa!" He turned to Rayman angrily. "What was that for?"

"Don't be rude."

That's still one serious time difference between this world and where we're from, though," Tal commented.

"Yes, this truly is one mysterious world we ended up entering," Clank said.

"That reminds me," Rayman then started. "How exactly did you guys end up here in the Glade of Dreams to begin with?"

I responded with, "Let me see if I can explain it. Rayman, do you remember those shadowy monsters from the dream? Well, they were attacking our ship a little while ago. Clank and I used the power inside of a yellow jewel we found recently to take the monsters down, but somehow that jewel also opened up a portal. We ended up losing control of our ship shortly after, and we ended up crashing in the Glade." Am I missing any important details, guys?"

"You used that rock you found in an asteroid field?" Tal questioned.

Rayman on the hand came to a stop and turned with wide eyes.

"What did you say? Those black things attacked you on your ship?"

"Yes, they were everywhere. None of our weapons worked on them."

"And you mentioned a jewel, right? Would it happen to be a fist sized gem with a lot of power?"

"Y-yes. How did you know that?"

"I found one shortly after I met you." What did he say? "It was during a meteor shower seven months ago. All we know about it is hat it may be from the heavens since it's not of this world."

"Did you say a meteor shower?" Clank popped in. "What a coincidence. The meteor shower had caused the asteroid field where we found our gem. In fact..." Clank took something out and handed it to me. It was the jewel. "I was able to store it before the crash."

"That's it!" Rayman shouted. "Exactly like that, except mine is a different color!"

I could feel my jaw practically drop to the floor the moment Rayman revealed that.

"You're joking, right?" I asked, clearly shocked by this revelation.

"No, not even a little bit! The only difference is that the one I found is colored purple! And boy, was it handy when those weird black bug things came out of nowhere!"

After everything that's happened so far, I can honestly say I don't know what will happen next. But I feel like the jewels are important somehow.

"So they were here too?"

"The fairies' magic was useless against them," Murfy commented. "If it weren't for Rayman's quick thinking, the Glade would've been swarming with them."

"The same could be said for our situation, really," Tal commented. "When we encountered them, we literally couldn't make even a dent on any of them."

"The only reason why we managed to chase them away was because of the stone we had," I explained. "And after we used it, they just vanished as if they weren't even there to begin with."

"That's exactly what happened when we used the one I found!" Rayman exclaimed.

"Maybe the jewels are connected somehow? I'm still trying to put the pieces together on this puzzle, but so much has happened that it's been a challenge."

"You're telling us. So speaking of yours, where is it?"

"With the Teensies we're taking you to. If there's one species trustworthy with anything this powerful, it's them."

"Okay. Then, we can see what the heck is going on with everything that's been happening lately."

"Agreed." As we journeyed farther through the forest, a large structure came into view.

"Behold!" Murfy announced. "The Fairy Council!"

 **End Chapter**


	23. The Great Clock (WIP)

This chapter is a work in progress, I also haven't decided on where this chapter is located in Sly's story, but this is everything I've written so far:

Clank: Sigmund will not like this.

Ratchet: But the Zoni said "everyone," Clank. Besides, they seem to know about the marks and the Seven Servers.

Sonic: But even if we do get answers, we still have the other universes to go.

Tails: It could be possible that the definition for these marks are different in our home worlds.

Bentley: I'm getting a lot of temporal and anomalical activity here. Is this good?

Ratchet: If it's supporting time and space in this dimension, yes.

(auto door opens, everyone but Ratchet and Clank are awestruck)

Ratchet: Everyone, welcome to the heart of this universe, built right in the center, the Great Clock!

Clank: Give or take fifty feet.

Tails: It's... beautiful.

Bentley: It's a science geek marvel.

Clank: Agreed. Very impressive.

Sora: So this is pretty much... your universe's Kingdom Hearts.

Ratchet: Kingdom Hearts?

Sly: You've mentioned that name before. Tie into your adventures?

Sora: Our adventures _revolved_ around it.

Sly: That's some history.

(three Zoni appear)

Zoni 1: Welcome home, sire. (all three Zoni bow)

Penelope: "Sire"?

Clank: It's a long story. To put it short, I was created here.

Riku: You were what?

Zoni 2: (all three turn to Ratchet, as if staring into him) You have returned.

Ratchet: Y-yeah. I was called here with the others.

Zoni 3: That is not what we mean.

Zoni 1: Our Majesty has returned.

Rayman: Hold on. "Majesty"? Where did that come from?

Ratchet: How should I know? These guys used to ignore me.

Zoni 1: Let us see hand, Majesty.

Ratchet: Uh... sure. (removes glove from right hand)

Zoni 3: Majesty... our galaxy's faithful Prince... You have been selected by the master's best friend.

Ratchet: What does that mean?

Clank: What does Sigmund have to do with this?

Zoni 2: No, sire. Caretaker not responsible. Another friend. One that created cluster of galaxies.

Link: Like a god?

Zoni 2: In a way. He also creator of Zoni and people of galaxies.

Zelda: It must be a god. No living being can live for aeons.

Zoni 3: No. He not god. He spirit now. But watch over his kingdom in the Universe of Life. (all three Zoni turn around) Follow us for more answers you seek. (move in light)

Sora: Uh, okay, this is kind of getting a bit confusing.

Riku: A bit confusing? I think the right term for this is extremely confusing.

Bentley: Well, either way, I suppose the only way we're going to solve this mystery is to follow them.

Link: Yes, he does have a point about that.

Ratchet: Well, let's get going then, everyone.

(The group nods and then begins to follow the Zoni)

(After gameplay)

Clank: I've never seen this part of the clock before.

Sigmund: Oh, sir! Welcome back! I didn't realize you had arrived with- (looks shocked) Guests?!

Clank: The Zoni invited them. Rest assured, they will not harm the clock.

Sigmund: I-If you say so, sir. So which one of you is "his Majesty"?

Ratchet: Uh... (looks a little sheepish) That would be me for some reason.

Zoni 1: Majesty must revive master. Must revive his friend.

Ratchet: Me? Do what?

Sigmund: Well, apparently, Orvus made this chamber as one of his special occasions. This one here actually has the power to revive any fallen Zoni, since Zoni are made of pure energy.

Talwyn: It can revive Zoni?

Ratchet: Then, Orvus will...

Sigmund: Unfortunately, only one person in the whole universe can work this mechanism. That's the one the Zoni call "his Majesty".

Ratchet: And since the Zoni keep on calling me "his Majesty", I'm guessing that can really only mean one thing.

Sigmund: Yes. You're the only one that can actually work this mechanism. That means only you have the ability to revive any fallen Zoni.

Ratchet: But... I've never worked such a contraption before! Whoever this Majesty was before me made a mistake!

Zoni 3: Master's best friend never makes mistakes. You were chosen to follow because of your heart.

Ratchet: My heart?

Zoni 2: Majesty must touch with his destiny. You must bring back master.

Ratchet: And you expect me to know how?!

Zoni 1: As master would say, follow your heart, not your head.

(Ratchet hesitates for a moment before walking over to the control panel, there is a strange language above the panel)

Ratchet: Strange words... How am I... Huh? (letters suddenly become words he can understand) That's... weird... "My successor, I understand that you will have a thousand questions about your new role. But I am confident that you will choose the right path with your new power. Bring happiness to the universe and preserve justice against evil." (hand with mark is subconsciously laid on the panel, making it glow) Whoa!

Qwark: Something's happening!

(Zoni mech starts moving and glowing, there is a big flash of light and electric power, under the laser is a tired Orvus)

Zoni: Master! (all three assist Orvus)

Clank: Father...

Sigmund: I can't believe it...

Rayman: So that's Orvus...

(Orvus is helped over to Ratchet, who is staring in great surprise)

Ratchet: I... I did it...

Penelope: He actually managed to do it somehow...

Bentley: I... I honestly have no words for this...

Impa: I believe it is safe to say that we all are left speechless.

Orvus: (He opens his eyes and looks around in confusion) I am... alive again? How long was I out for exactly?

Zoni 1: You've been gone for six years, master. Majesty bring you back.

Orvus: You mean... Topaz has...

Ratchet: Um... Orvus?

Orvus: (turns to Ratchet) Are you... the heir?

Ratchet: According to the Zoni, yes.

Orvus: (smile) I thank you for restoring me, young heir. I can tell just by looking at you that my friend made a good decision. It's an honor to meet you, Ratchet.

Ratchet: (surprised) How did you know me?

Orvus: Let's just say my friend talked it over with me about your deeds in Solana. He talked very highly of you.

Ratchet: (sheepish smile)

Clank: (begins walking over with a look of almost disbelief) Father...

Orvus: Hmm? (turns around) Clank...?

Clank: (stops before getting so close, as if he is unsure)

Orvus: (approaches Clank) My son...

Clank: Father... It really is you...

Orvus: My son... How long has it been since I had last seen you?

Clank: It's been far too long, father.

Orvus: Yes. Far too long indeed.

(the two embrace each other, Sly and Ratchet smile sadly at the two)

Sigmund: Welcome back, Orvus.

Orvus: Ah, Sigmund. It's been a very long time since we last spoke, hasn't it?

Sigmund: Yes, it has been. I still can't believe six years have already flown by since you've fallen.

Orvus: I suppose time does fly by quickly when you're gone for that many years.

(turns to the others) And you must be their friends. It's good to see they have good people for them.

(everyone greets Orvus)

Zoni 1: Master, the Prince has some questions.

Ratchet: I'm a what?

Orvus: Oh yes, that is a matter we must discuss. (turns to Ratchet) My friend has chosen you as his successor Soul Prince, Ratchet.

Clank: Soul Prince?

Ratchet: Uh, excuse me, Orvus, but what exactly is a Soul Prince? I'm honestly getting pretty confused here.

Orvus: Ah, yes. I believe a proper explanation is in order here.

You see, every living thing has a soul. But only seven in the whole universe have a pure soul. These seven are known as the Soul Princes, and they are the guardians of the universe.

Ratchet: So... I have a pure soul?

Orvus: Indeed you do now, Ratchet.

Ratchet: "Now"?

Orvus: Unlike the Princesses of Heart who are born with pure hearts, Soul Princes have the darkness purged from their souls upon selection, and it cannot be undone.

Sora: So Orvus, does it tie into... any weird marks?

(residents of the Great Clock look surprised)

Orvus: Why do you ask?

Ratchet: Well, I'm not the only one with a mark on my hand, Orvus. Mario, Sly, Link, Sora, Sonic, and Ray have one too.

(all six reveal the six marks)

Sigmund: My goodness!

Orvus: (big smile, chuckle) Well, this makes things easier! All seven of you are here!

Mario: Ah... what?

Sonic: (puts glove back on) Are you saying that the six of us are also...?

Orvus: Yes. You six, along with Ratchet, are also Soul Princes.

Sly: Woah... We're just like Ratchet? We're destined to become the guardians of our entire universe?

Link: I... I am utterly speechless about this...

Bentley: Did anyone catch what this means?

Murray: Means what?

Bentley: We all thought that we come from different dimensions. But with this revelation... we're really from the same universe!

Ly: For real?!

Zelda: All of us?

Orvus: Indeed you are. Our galaxies are just so far apart that you're not aware of the others' existence!

Riku: How many... galaxies are there then?

Orvus: Hundreds, but only seven are counted because this galaxy is made of many galaxies. That's why we call this zone of the universe the Galaxy Cluster.

Ratchet: The Galaxy Cluster... Makes sense.

Orvus: You could say that each galaxy is a Soul Prince's "kingdom" and they are to protect these kingdoms from evil. (turns to Ratchet) And your kingdom to protect, Ratchet, is the Galaxy Cluster, our galaxy.

Ratchet: My duty as a Soul Prince... It's to protect our galaxy from evil?

Orvus: Exactly. It is a very important duty that you must make as your responsibility. The same thing can be said for the other six Soul Princes. The fate of all seven galaxies rest in your hands.

Ratchet: Yeah. I think I understand fully on what you're saying.

After all, that kind of is already our job.

Orvus: (smile) You young ones learn so fast. Oh! Speaking of learning, there's something I've been told to teach you, Ratchet! My friend had left me in charge of that!

Ratchet: Really?

Orvus: Yes. It's one of your new powers as a Soul Prince! But you haven't tapped into it yet.

Clank: Ratchet has powers?

Orvus: Powers, magic, whichever you prefer. Though this is an ancient form of magic that we Zoni have been using our whole lives. It's probably one of the last fragments of magic in the Galaxies.

Clank: I've never heard of this magic. What's it called?

Orvus: Mahou-Tech, it must be one of the most ancient forms of magic here in our cluster of galaxies. Very few creatures even know it exists than those that can use it. But it has certainly been aeons since a lombax recieved the power. And my friend was that very lombax all those years ago.

Ratchet: Wait a minute, your friend was a Lombax just like me?!

Orvus: Why, yes, of course. And like I said before, he was the last Lombax to recieve such a power as Mahou-Tech... Until now.

Ratchet: Until now? ...Wait, are you trying to say...?

Orvus: Yes, Ratchet. You are the next Lombax to recieve the power to use Mahou-Tech.

The next Lombax _and_ the first heir to be the one we call our Soul Prince of Storm. Protector of Joy, Humility, and the Galaxy Cluster.

Ratchet: This is... whoa, a lot to take in.

Orvus: Take some time to let it settle in. In the meantime, let's get your training started. Sigmund will guide you to Sector 20. There's a training hall made specially for adapting to Mahou-Tech there. I'll be waiting for you, Ratchet. (teleports)

Sticks: Did anyone catch everything? Because my head short circuited during the last three minutes.

Kairi: I hope so.

Sonic: Well, let's not keep Orvus waiting.

Ratchet: And there's still more we need to know. (inspects mark on hand before putting his glove back on) Let's go.

Sigmund: This way, everyone! Tour 2 of the Great Clock begins now!

(after gameplay)


	24. Sonic: Two Hedgehogs in a Death Trap

The chapters are out of order, I'm just posting them as the are written on the Soul Kingdom Wiki.

(Shortly after Sonic is pulled out of the rubble and team leaves in pursuit of Lyric)

...

...

(Shadow suddenly appears, looking over the platform)

Shadow: There's some kind of... trace of the Crystals' energy...

(Shadow sees the boulders shake)

Shadow: Huh? Who's under there?

(rubble continues shaking, Shadow sighs before moving down to the platform to help by pulling the rubble off)

Shadow: (backs away in shock) But... how is that possible...?!

(Something... or someONE is seen coming out of the rubble)

Shadow: (He looks at the figure with shock) This... This can't be possible...! There's no way!

(hedgehog silhouette rubs his head and groans)

?: Wh-where am I... Wh-what happened...?

Shadow: But I just saw you go with...! Who are you?

?: Back at you. Who are you?

Shadow: I asked, first! Don't play around!

?: I... I... Who am I?

Shadow: Stop kidding around and tell me who you are already!

?: I... I'm telling you... I don't know who I am!

Shadow: ...Wait. Are you serious about this?

?: Yeah. The last thing I remember was coming out that rubble, but other than that... Agh! I can't remember anything!

Shadow: Great. I'm dealing with an amnesiac.

?: I'm sorry to be... wasting your time, then. I'll get going... as soon as I get my foot unstuck. (moves a boulder over off his foot, he attempts to stand up, but he cringes from putting force on himself)

Shadow: Looks like you're more hurt than I thought.

?: N-no, I'll be okay. Just a spranged ankle. I don't to waste your time. I'll be leaving now... (attempts to walk, but Shadow watches as he struggles)

Shadow: (groans, looks away for a second) I have no choice... (looks back at the hedgehog) Hold on. I'm not giving you a choice in this. You're coming with me.

?: (turns and looks confused) What?

Shadow: Look. I know it's just a sprained ankle, but I can't let go walking off on your own.

?: No, no, I'll be fine on my own. Really!

Shadow: As I said before, I'm not giving you a choice. You're definitely coming with me. Besides, you don't even know where you are.

?: (looks away guiltily) As long as... I'm not a pain.

Shadow: (whispers to self) This guy is rather difficult... at least not as snarky as the faker. (normal) Call me Shadow, to answer your question. We'll come up with something for you. Now hold on tight.

?: Huh? (suddenly picked up bridal by Shadow) Whoa! (Shadow jumps out of the pit and away)

Some time later...

Tails: What do you mean Sonic was in town a moment ago?

Cliff: We saw him. Though, I will admit that his blue was... much lighter and not as wild.

Sonic: Lighter and more sleek fur? Doesn't sound like Metal Sonic.

Knuckles: And it obviously can't be Shadow.

Amy: So how can there be another Sonic with lighter and more sleek fur?

Cliff: Shadow? You mean the black hedgehog? Funny thing is that hedgehog was with Shadow while he was here.

Tails: Wait a second. Shadow was here?

Cliff: Yep, that's right.

Sonic: So Shadow was with that other hedgehog when he was here, huh?

Tails: I wonder why the two of them were here?

Sticks: Not to mention why that no good, spankin' black emo was with someone in the first place.

Knuckles: He is quite anti-social.

Amy: Is it really possible for Shadow to... actually have a friend?

Sonic: Shadow with a friend? That's a new thing.

Cliff: Last people saw the two was them wooshing out to the woods. And I must say, the other guy was quite quick. Almost as quick as you, Sonic.

Sonic: As quick as me? Okay, this guy I need to see. Let's head out, everyone.

Tails: We're going to go find them? They can be anywhere.

Tails: Hmm... Let's start with just asking around first. If we don't find any solid information, I've been itching to try a new gadget.

(after asking around the town)

Sticks: Urgh, all I got was that they had gotten hardware supplies and then headed to the woods.

Sonic: Hardware supplies? Shadow? That's unusual.

Tails: I got that the two got a lot of rope and some digging equipment.

Knuckles: Rope and some digging equipment? What could they be using that for?

Amy: That's not all they got. Apparently, they also got a lot of food while they were here.

Sticks: The two of them must be hungry as wolves if they have gotten that much food!

Tails: Hold on a minute. Hardware supplies... excavation things... extra food... There can be only one place on the island where you would need all of that eqiupment and supplies.

Sonic: That's it! The Hidden Meadow! You need tough survival skills in order to be there!

Amy: So that's where the two of them have gone to!

Knuckles: Wait. Why would anyone, even Shadow, want to live out there?

Tails: The only reasons I can think of are either isolation or he's keeping something secret. And I'll bet my workshop that it has something to do with this second lookalike.

Sonic: Well, we'll never know if we don't see for ourselves. Shall we get going?

Amy: Again, this is the Hidden Meadows. Shouldn't we go prepared?

Knuckles: She's right, you know.

Sonic: Alright. We'll get prepared and then we'll set off when we're ready.

Tails: Got it!

(after gathering needed materials, the quest Two Hedgehogs in a Death Trap becomes available)

(after traversing the perilous path to Hidden Meadows)

Knuckles: I don't see anyone that looks remotely like two hedgehogs here. Besides the ones with us.

Sonic: Just keep looking. Those two can be anywhere.

Tails: Got it, Sonic.

Sticks: If I were an emo and a copycat hedgehog, where would I hide around here?

Amy: (hears something) Hmm? (looks up and looks panicked) Duck!

(everyone jumps out of the way of a jar that exploded once it hits the ground)

Tails: Gum tree berry grenades?!

Sonic: I've about had enough of those!

?: Well, you shouldn't be on our terf then, faker.

Sonic: Oh... (team looks to see Shadow standing on a tall rock) So this is where you've been.

Shadow: And I see that you and your little friends are trespassing on our turf.

Sonic: Wait. "Our" turf?

Amy: He must be talking about that other hedgehog.

Tails: Then they must be... (looks up and sees another grenade) Up there! Move (Sticks jumps out of the way before it explodes)

Sonic: Defense measures? I think you're losing your touch, Shads.

Shadow: Leave now.

Sonic: Not until we see this "other" copycat of me. I swear, three is just too many.

Shadow: Tough luck. But if you're not going to leave willingly, we'll just have to kick you out.

(Boss battle finishes)

Sonic: (approaches the weakened Shadow) Okay, now that you're on your last legs, tell us about the hedgehog you've been around.

Amy: (sees another grenade) Sonic! (tackles Sonic out of the way)

Sticks: Okay, that does it! (throws boomerang at the trees, but a hand cathes it) What the?! A monkey?!

Shadow: Stupid badger! Does that look like a monkey to you?

(a blur of sky blue streaks down the tree and tackles Sonic while throwing the boomerang back at Sticks, who falls back from the force)

Knuckles: What was that?!

Shadow: More like who, echidna.

(a figure stands protectively in front of Shadow, the team backs away in shock)

Amy: Th-that's... impossible!

Knuckles: N-no way! There's just no way!

Sticks: Do my own two eyes decieve me?!

Tails: H-he... I... I-I can't believe it!

Sonic: He... He looks almost exactly...!

(camera shows a sky blue hedgehog, with evened quills, three quills out like bangs, in all looking almost like a sky blue version of Sonic)

?: Shadow said to leave. So leave.

Sonic: Who are you?

?: I will not tell you. I am just a companion of Shadow.

Tails: Companion?

Shadow: Pal. He's my pal. (regains strength to stand properly) At ease.

?: You sure?

Shadow: Positive. That hedgehog there (looks at Sonic)... might be connected to you.

Amy: What did you say?

?: If you say so... pal. (hedgehog straightens and stands next to Shadow)

Shadow: There. You get to see him after all.

Sonic: Then can you answer for us what his name is?

Shadow: (grunts) While the name is only temporary, it seemed to fit the most... This is my pal, Sicön.

Sonic: Sicön?

Sicön: Yeah. That's me.

Sonic: Woah... He really does look like me... Well, almost.

Sicön: Our appearances do actually look very similar, don't they?

Shadow: The reason for this... neither of us know.

Tails: Is, uh... he why you decided to den yourself here in this very dangerous place?

Shadow: In a matter of speaking. We both made residence here.

Sticks: The emo hedgehog and his tagalong buddy are making a voodoo shack!

Sicön: Voodoo? We don't possess that kind of power.

Knuckles: You two actually live here?

Shadow: What better place could there be where no one would think of bothering us?

Amy: That does actually make sense, if you think about it.

Tails: That's true. It would be very difficult for others to get here unless they were properly prepared.

Sonic: But for what reason would you want Zicky here to live in this death trap?

Sicön: "Zicky"?

Sonic: Sorry. Does Siccy sound better?

Sicön: Uh... Unsure.

Shadow: Who said you can go around and nickname him?

Sonic: Hey, his name is a little tough to say.

Sicön: (sigh, folds arms) If it does make it easier, I guess it'll be okay with me.

Sonic: Thank you. Now back to my question...

Shadow: To keep him secret from Eggman. What else?

Amy: Why do you need to keep Siccy a secret?

Shadow: Think about it. If Eggman heard about another hedgehog with almost the same appearance as Sonic residing on this island, what do you think he would do?

Tails: He does have a point about that. Eggman would probably tear down the entire island just looking for Siccy.

Shadow: And as you just saw, Sicön has the exact powers as Sonic here, putting him in more danger.

Sticks: I can already picture him going, (uses boomerang as a mustache) "One blue rodent destroying my robots is bad enough, but now there's two of them?!"

Tails: Yep, he'd definitely tear down the island just to destroy him.

Knuckles: Huh. But even Eggman wouldn't dare come out here. So I guess it was a good plan.

Amy: I assume that you won't tell us where you two live exactly?

Shadow: Not chancing it. And we told you enough. So scram.

Sicön: Shadow.

Shadow: (groans and facepalms) Leave us be... (gets look at Siccy's pretty demanding face) please.

(group looks surprised for a few seconds)

Sonic: Magic word was used. Let's go, everyone. (turns and starts walking away, soon followed by the others)

Knuckles: Did Shadow really say "please"?

Tails: Siccy must be quite the influence, getting Shadow to be... polite.

Amy: I'll say.

Sticks: (has a bit of a dreamy look) I gotta admit, you guys. That blue is more radiant than the sky.

Amy: Oh my gosh! Sticks has a crush! That is so adorable! Congradulations!

Sonic: Oh brother. Here we go, again.


	25. Ocean Purification Plant (WIP)

This chapter is another tease of the future, and as far as I know it is going to be a while before we reach this point.

Sonic: Sora, are you sure someone is possibly down here?

Sora: Why? Not much of a fan of water?

Sly: Frankly, I'm not either.

Sonic: Finally someone who understands me!

Ratchet: Come on, you two. At least you don't have to get in it.

Clank: I am starting to pick up a life form in here. About 2 miles in our current direction.

Ratchet: You sure about that, buddy?

Clank: Yes, I am certain.

Sora: Well, guys, we don't have all day. Let's get moving!

Qwark: What? More walking? Can't we take a breather after those homicidal robots?

Sicön: Then why did you come with us?

Ratchet: Probably to do the "I saved a lady in distress" kind of scenario.

Qwark: No, it's not!

Ratchet: Uh huh, sure.

Sly: Nitwit.

Qwark: I heard that.

Sora: Guys, please.

Clank: This is getting us nowhere.

Sonic: And the sooner we find this person, the sooner we can get out of here.

Sicön: Yeah, Sonic's right. This isn't the time to be bickering guys. We gotta keep moving and find this person before it's too late!

Sly: I couldn't agree more!

Clank: Yes, we don't have time to waste, everyone.

Qwark: I still disagree with the whole "saving a lady in distress" scenario, though.

Ratchet: (He simply rolls his eyes on that statement)

(after traversing more of the plant)

Sonic: Incoming!

(team dodges a flying robot head)

Sora: Whoa! Where did that come from?!

Clank: The life form is just up ahead! And they seemed to not be alone!

Sly: Let's get moving, guys! They might need a bit of help!

Ratchet: Right!

(The team runs to where the flying robot head came from)

(while hurrying)

Clank: The number of enemies is sharply declining!

Ratchet: How tough is that person then?!

Clank: I do not know!

Sonic: Well, one thing's for sure is that this person can fight! I sure wouldn't want to cross them!

(cutscene transversion)

Sora: It's... a girl.

Sicön: That certainly knows how to use a spear, that's for sure.

(camera shows a lavender furred hedgehog slicing a robot head off while still surrounded by more robots)

Ratchet: Wait a second. Doesn't that chick look familiar?

Sora: I think we can worry about that later, Ratchet. She won't hold out much longer at this rate!

Qwark: Yes! Finally we get more fighting!

(during fight)

?: Hey, who are you guys?

Sonic: Here to help! Let's do introductions after the fight, okay?

?: I'm not complaining.

(after all the coming robots are smashed)

?: I could've taken care of all of them, but thanks for the help.

Sonic: It's no problem, A- Whoa! You look like...

?: Like what?

Sora: Sorry. You remind us of a friend that's waiting for us on the surface. Can you tell us who you are?

?: Gosh, you're cool. Alright then. I'm Mya. Mya Bloom.

Sicön: Mya...

Mya: And what's your names? You first, blue boy.

Sly: Uh, which one of us three are you talking about?

Mya: The all-blue one, of course.

Sonic: I think that means you, Siccy.

Sicön: Oh! W-well, okay. Name's Sicön. Or Siccy, if that's easier to say.

Mya: Siccy, huh? Cool name.

Sicön: Um, thanks.

Mya: And what about you guys? (She looks at Sonic and Sly)

Sonic: The name's Sonic. Nice to meet you, Mya.

Sly: And my name's Sly. Sly Cooper.

Mya: And what about you four? (she then looks at Clank, Ratchet, Sora and Qwark)

Ratchet: Name's Ratchet. Nice to meet ya!

Clank: I am XJ-0461, but everyone calls me Clank.

Sora: I'm Sora. It's nice to meet you, Mya!

Qwark: And I am Captain Qwark! Surely you've heard of me?

Mya: No, not really.

Ratchet: Qwark, how could someone billions of light years from our galaxy possibly know about you?

Qwark: Couldn't any of you at least play along?

Mya: You're a bit of an odd bunch. And did you say "from our galaxy"?

Sly: Uh, well, that is a very long story. You probably wouldn't believe us at first.

Mya: Trust me, crazier things have happened to me. I'm pretty sure I could manage this long story of yours.

Sonic: That is a relief. But we really should get to the surface first. Hopefully, none of the girls have started panicking.

Sly: Carmelita panicking? No way.

Sora: Not like Kairi.

Sonic: You guys know what I mean.

Ratchet: Chill, single boy. (the three chuckle)

Sonic: Very funny, mousey.

Mya: So... we going up or not?

Clank: That would be the best option at the moment.

Ratchet: Yeah, Clank's right.

Sora: Well then, let's get moving!

(The others nod and begin to make their way out of the OPP)

(after taking elevator)

Tails: Took you guys long enough.

Knuckles: (sees Mya) Whoa. Who's the doll?

Mya: (glares) Doll?

Sonic: Uh, this is Mya. We found her fighting against some robots down there.

Murray: All by herself? Wow, I never heard of so much strength in a little package. You have my respect, Mya.

Mya: Wow. Thank you. You look like a powerhouse yourself. Your name, fella?

Murray: I am The Murray! Great to meet ya!

Mya: (chuckles, but then notices Amy, the two stare at each other) Am I... staring in a mirror where I'm pink?

Amy: I should asking the same thing, but lavender.

Mya: Uh, so, what's your name?

Amy: Amy. Nice to meet you, Mya.

Ratchet: We're gonna have a long talk about this, aren't we?

Sly: Yeeeep. We definitely are.

(back to the village)

Tails: The resemblance in features between Amy and Mya is almost uncanny. And you just found her down there in the plant?

Sonic: Exactly.

Knuckles: I just can't believe she managed to take out a bunch of robots single handedly before you guys showed up.

Sonic: Trust me, it was definitely a surprise to us all.

Sticks: Who was that girl, trying to impress someone, huh?

Tails: If she was alone, I don't think she was trying to impress anyone. What made you think that anyway?

Sticks: U-uh-um... (looks away)

Amy: Sticks, are you jealous or something?

Sticks: Jealous?! Of that tomboy?! Have you lost your minds?!

Sonic: I don't think they showed interest in each other, Sticks.

Sticks: "They"? "Each other"? Who the heck are you talkin' about?

Sonic: You know, Mya and Siccy. I don't think they're that interested in each other.

Sticks: I'm not jealous of that tomboy over Siccy! R-Really! I'm not!

Amy: No offense, Sticks, but you're sort of showing signs of jealously at the moment.

Sticks: I am not jealous!

Rayman: (comes over with his "ears" covered) What's going on over here? I could hear everything from around the corner.

Sticks: (huffs in frustration)

Amy: Um, it's personal lady business.

Rayman: And yet there are guys with you.

Amy: Okay, a clique business.

Rayman: Well, whatever it was you guys were talking about, it sure was loud.

Amy: Eheheheh... Sorry about that, Rayman.

Rayman: No problem.

Sticks: If you all don't mind, I'm going for a nature walk. (walks away)

Tails: I don't think I've ever seen Sticks like this before.

Rayman: She did look pretty moody about something, but I won't pry on what the conversation was.

Amy: Yeah, I don't believe she would appreciate sharing it.


End file.
